


Adventures of Quillion (Overwatch 2)

by Quillion0



Category: Overwatch (Video Game)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama, F/F, F/M, Multi, Psychological Trauma
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-07
Updated: 2021-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-17 22:20:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 9
Words: 46,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28607379
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quillion0/pseuds/Quillion0
Summary: With the world at peace, many had adjusted to their new lives until the God Program known as IT emerged from the shadows, threatening to tear it all apart once again. Rumor has it that the renowned hacker Sombra holds a code that can control said God Program, prompting a race from all parties to find her first for their own needs.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 4





	1. Introduction

Happy New Year everyone!

Welcome to Adventures of Quillion (Overwatch 2)! I hope that this arc will still be an entertaining one for everyone and that this time the quality would be somewhat better than the 1st.

Heads up for any readers who may not know, this is a continuation of Adventures of Quillion (Overwatch) that I posted in Fanfic, I was just told to try posting in two different sites so I'm trying it now, sorry for any inconveniences caused. Otherwise, thanks for taking and interest and I hope that you will join me through this arc.

Until then, enjoy and stay healthy, here's to a new year :D

* * *

*Gibraltar: Overwatch*

The island has seen dramatic changes ever since the legalization of Overwatch three months ago.

No longer a hidden organization and with the backing of the United Nations, Gibraltar Overwatch have undergone massive expansions that had made it unrecognizably bigger and brighter, especially to the locals of Gibraltar. In a few months, the world watched as the dark and gloomy mountain became a beacon of light and awe again for the world..

To cater to their new fleet donated by the UN, they built multiple new landing pads, which most of the crew felt were unnecessary as 90% of the aircraft are always in the air. Then came the diggers, who drilled deeper into the mountain to create more space for new departments and offices. Under Morrison's strict direction, he ensured that the mountain was filled with research labs or medical facilities instead of the barracks that the UN originally planned, relocating it to Gibraltar itself, to which he had to personally convince the local governor for permission.

The sudden influx of manpower incited an almost immediate conflict from the previous volunteers who had been with Overwatch since the Recall as many of the them demanded better positions and pay, a mindset that insulted many who had sacrificed everything to make the world better, not for wealth or reputation. In the end, it took the combined efforts of Smith and Winston to settle the matter.

Angela and Mei however, found the additional staff extremely helpful, as many contain some of the brightest minds of the world. In short time they have regained much of the research and studies that had been lost during the wars, theorizing that if they continue uninterrupted, they can recover everything in less than 10 years, twice as fast as previously projected.

Reinhardt, Torbjorn and Brigitte kept mostly to themselves, spending their time in the Engineering room and discussing their relevance to the future, as the need for Crusaders and Squires seems unnecessary with each passing day, especially when Germany has not said anything about reorganizing the Crusader Order despite earning worldwide recognition twice.

Ana and Faheera were also able to extend their leave, preferring to spend more time in Canada in peacetime, and even Lena and Lox were allowed some respite by Morrison himself, who had not sent anyone after them, instead merely asked Athena to track their whereabouts.

McCree and Genji were assigned to train the Peacekeepers, but strangely enough they were nowhere to be found, leaving only the most veteran of the Overwatch mercenaries to train them.

"Report" Morrison asked, sitting in his new and smaller office.

"Sir, the blue heads are well, they'll be ready before the next batch comes in" the old vet said gruffly.

"Good keep it up"

"Sir"

_*Click*_

"Commander Morrison, may we have an update from the scientific field? Some investors are concern about-"

"I have already ordered an update to be sent this Thursday"

"Oh thank you"

_*Click*_

"Commander, the local governor is still waiting for an update regarding the proposal that we need to pay rent for using this mountain"

"Tell him I'm busy"

_*Click*_

"Commander, we would like to remind you of the meeting in two hours"

_*Click*_

"Commander Morrsion, we have received some complaints about-"

"Commander, here are the minutes from last week's meeting-"

"Commander, regarding last month's report-"

"Commander, this city is still waiting for aid-"

"Commander, the organizational chart requires a review and-"

After an hour, Morrison sat back and groaned, taking every opportunity to breathe whenever he could, wishing that he had half the patience and stamina from when he was younger. He recovered his posture immediately when a knock came from the door and Winston poke his head in.

"Jack, you got a moment?" he asked, coming in when Morrison nodded.

"I got it" he continued, pulling out a peanut butter jar.

Morrison felt his eyes brighten for the first time in weeks, waiting almost impatiently for Winston to pull out a hidden bag inside the jar and inserting it into the dataslot on his desk.

"Athena, bring it up to screen" he commanded while Winston proceeded to eat the peanut butter.

* * *

*Location: Redacted*

"Howdy there boss, McCree here, but you already know that, just wanna let you know that your guess was spot on, problem was instead of her, we found a bunch of these mercenary boys looking for her too"

Taking the camera, he opened the door, revealing three men kneeling on the ground with Genji holding his blade across their necks.

"Why don't you'all be good boys and repeat what you just told us, then my partner there wouldn't give you guys a shave" McCree asked the middle man.

"We-We were sent to capture the shadow" he said in a thick accent.

"And why is that?"

When the man didn't answer, Genji pulled his blade up, making the other two men whimper as they glanced at the one that McCree was asking.

"We're just told to bring her in alive! Word was she got some kind of program to control god! I swear I don't know what that means!"

"Thank you kindly, you can go"

They watch the men scramble out of the room as Genji sheaths his sword. Once out of earshot McCree started laughing and waved at the air in front of him.

"Whew, they pissed themselves bad… Well boss, I don't like this, how'd they know what we know? They're just kids"

"Kids who managed to pin you to the ground until I showed up" Genji added.

"Aww c'mon you promised you wouldn't mention that"

Setting the camera down, McCree loomed into view and sat on a chair, lighting a cigar.

"Well, we have found this card, seems Chinese or something I dunno"

"And I already told you it is not!"

"How would you know? You're just a ninja"

After some bickering, McCree showed the card on the screen, and Morrison saw it was written in Tibetan.

"Here ya go, we'll be waitin' for further orders boss… Oh and Winston? I wouldn't eat that peanut butter if I were you, accidentally dropped into… You don't wanna know"

* * *

*Gibraltar: Overwatch*

Morrisons stayed silent as Winston spat out the peanut butter all over the floor.

Ever since their hunt for Sombra began, they had multiple run-ins with various parties at an increasing pace, each with the same motive.

Extract the suspected, God Program controlling code that she carries.

"I do not like this Winston, somehow these private parties know about it"

"Yeah… There must be a leak somewhere, we need to plug it"

"No point, the UN have already talked about this issue long before sharing the information with us"

"If I may Commander, shall I instruct them to proceed with the mission?" Athena asked.

"Negative, we are still far behind in terms of information, the next time we strike, Sombra must be there, tell them to stay put" he replied as he stood up and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?"

"To prepare for the meeting with someone from the UN, something to do with that Peace Treaty that the Omnics are proposing"

"Remind me what they're calling it again"

"The Pax Aeternum, seems like those Omnics like Latin just as much as humans" Morrison chuckled and closed the door.

* * *

*Over the Ocean*

Lox knew many of the pilots who flew this shuttle, all of them were almost nameless faces who never did anything more than what was expected of them. Doubtless many of them were heroes in their own right, volunteering to fly into the fiery battle and deliver supplies or troops where they were needed at the risk of their one lives.

But none of them would've ever imagined to have a famous celebrity learning how to fly.

"Whoa! This thing can really bank!" Hana laughed happily when the shuttle lurched to the left.

"E-Easy now!" Lox shouted, grabbing onto anything for dear life.

"Why? There's nothing in the sky!"

Lena was also laughing with her, grabbing onto a handrail and allowing herself to be ragdolled around as Hana had her fun, which soon led to a somersault.

"Woohoo!"

"Watch it watch it!"

Hooking the yoke with her elbows, Hana pulled up and they just narrowly missed the water below them, flying just a few feet above the waves before rocketing back to the sky.

"This is way better than Flight Simulator!"

"Okay… I think that's enough for practice" Lox panted, fighting back the urge to puke.

"Aww really? We just started!"

"To be fair, its been an hour luv" Lena laughed.

"Really?" she cried and looked at her wristwatch "Alright then… How long would it take before we reach Brazil?"

"About… Three hours"

"What? That's what you said an hour ago!"

"That's because you've been flying us in a circle" Lena pointed out, showing Hana the circular flight path she just flew.

"Aww! Sorry about that, but thanks for the lesson Uncle Lox! I learned a lot!"

Jumping out of the seat, she skipped away, and Lox slumped in his seat once her humming faded away.

"You should take a break" Lena said, looking at Lox's pale face.

"Yeah… Maybe once I catch my breath…"

After checking that everything is in good order, Lena rearranged the Bobble Heads and the Onion Doll that had all been thrown off the dashboard during the somersault.

"Just a quick question, how much money we've got left?"

"Err… I think just enough to keep this up for another week"

"Really? What happened to the bonus we got from last month?"

"Fuel"

"Emergency fund?"

"Those carnivals ate them up"

Lena could only let out a "huh", never thinking that two adults could not keep up with one so young, even if she was some worldwide celebrity. They had been country hopping and spending lucratively while working odd jobs at the same time at the more expensive areas, rejecting Hana's offers to pay for some of the more expensive attractions after she had already chipped in for most of the fuel costs.

"Must be nice being that rich" she commented.

"Well she did act in Hero of My Storm, that movie alone would've paid for 90% of this trip"

Once Lox unstrapped himself and disappeared into his own room, Lena sat back and lost herself into the clouds, these many months had been quite a wild ride and have been exposed to many different experiences. Before she would just have a basic understanding of different cultures before going in, but she never had to mingle around for too long, so to actually experience it fully instead of just reading it had been eye opening.

The one thing that captured her attention the most however, was how strong the will of humanity is. The unbreakable drive to rebuild and carry on from almost everything that life throws their way is amazing, even poetic. A will that she needs to recover.

An alarm pulled her out of her daydream and she looked around frantically for the source of it. There must be a mistake, this sound has not been heard outside of wartime before. Ever.

"Where?" Lox shouted, scrambling back to his seat.

"I don't know, I can't find the source"

"What's going on?" Hana called out from her door.

"Strap in Hana! This is gonna get bumpy!" Lena shouted, putting on her headset.

"There!"

Looking at the rear camera, Lena could barely make out the trail of smoke in the clouds, streaking towards them.

"Why didn't the radars pick this up?" she asked, calibrating more power to the thrusters and setting off flares.

"Athena! What class is that missile?" Lox grunted, still sick from Hana's joyride but kept it in, as he began evasive maneuvers.

"I have scanned it multiple times but each attempt has failed, expected impact, two minutes"

"Flares aren't working" she said, unstrapping herself from the chair.

"Where are you going?" he shouted.

"I have an idea"

Tying an oxygen mask tightly around her face and a Pulse Bomb on hand, she took a second to gather herself, terrified but excited at the same time.

"You're out of your mind!" Lox shouted from his seat.

"I expect you to buy the drinks after this!" she yelled as Athena began the countdown.

"5…4…3…2…1…"

The ramp slid open and she was sucked out in a violent gust of wind. Tumbling around in the air and avoiding the trophies or fire extinguishers that flew out with her, she quickly regained her balance and looked around for the missile, which streaked past her so ferociously that she swears that her ears have been torn apart.

"Bollocks" she thought and Recalled back to the shuttle.

"One minute till impact" Lox yelled, but she could not hear him.

"Open the door again!"

With a little bit more control, she was able to balance herself quickly enough to see the missile and its flight path, but she was too far away to Blink to it.

"30 seconds!" Lox yelled when he heard her Recall back in.

"Fly to the right when the door opens!"

"Got it!"

Back in freefall, she was almost knocked aside by the shuttle as Lox swung it around. Activating the Pulse Bomb, Lena Blinked herself above the missile's flight path and saw it coming closer at a rapid pace. With the one hand she shot at the missile, getting a feel of its speed, before heaving the other arm back and threw.

The shuttle shuddered violently when the missile exploded just behind it and Lox fought to keep it under control. Fearing the worst, he looked back and whooped in joy when he saw the shuttle was still intact. Putting it back to autopilot, he ran down and was relieved to see Lena, coughing on all fours on the floor, smoking and shaking, but alive.

"I can't believe that worked!" he yelled, prompting Hana to poke her pale face out of her room.

"Imma… Imma..." Lena gasped, ripping off her mask before collapsing.

"Lena!" Hana shouted.

"She's fine, just tired" Lox said, checking her pulse "Help me take her back to her room"

Placing her gently on the bed, Lox was shocked to see the blood flowing from her ears.

"Ms Song, I'm sorry, but we are not going to go to Korea, we need to take her back to HQ now to get her ears fixed" he said, applying what first aid he could.

"O-Ok…" she replied, shivering on the spot.

Once the adrenaline wore off, Lox suddenly felt sick and ran back to his own quarters, which Hana could hear him throwing up violently, causing her to be more scared than ever.

"Do not worry , they will be fine"

"B-But who will fly the shuttle?"

"No one, we will crash"

"W-What?!" she squeaked, feeling faint.

"I am only joking, I will be piloting the shuttle, you may return to your room to finish your chips" Athena chuckled.

* * *

*France: Annecy*

Walking out of the cinema, Quillion let out a sigh of relief that the movie was over, yawning and stretching his legs in the sun. He looked around casually, absolutely enjoying the fact he does not need to be alert and can just look around without a purpose. Taking in the sights and architecture, he was grateful that this city has been unaffected by both Omnic Crisis, therefore maintaining its authenticity.

It is springtime here so the generations-old flower shops have a sweet smelling aroma that complimented the fresh clean air, restaurants and cafes lined the streets, their displays and presence blended in so well with the beautiful streets.

His only question was why are there so many pharmacies?

Looking out a little further to the canal, he wondered if he would be able to meet Chipie and Tina today since it was getting late, which reminded him to grab some baguette later, as they enjoy the size he usually cuts them in.

A cold wind blew past him and he felt his body froze. He shut his eyes tight when he felt his surroundings melting away, shivering as a terrifying memory came crawling back.

He was back on the operation table. A woman was standing over him, a blade in one hand and a purple orb on another. He could not escape. There was no escape. He could only watch helplessly as the scalpel sliced easily into his body.

"Comment allez-vous?"

He opened his eyes, breathing hard as he tried to remember that he was in a public street. Only after several blinks he recognized Amelie standing in front of him, having just walked out of the cinema's toiletries and saw him hyperventilating against the wall.

"Are you alright?" Amelie asked again, passing him a handkerchief.

"Yeah… Just thinking about something that's all" he said, rubbing his forehead that was covered in sweat "Common, we'll be late for dinner"

She let him walk first so she could keep an eye on him. It had been a couple of months since his first episode, where he blindly tore their room apart as if trying to fight off an invisible foe, which forced her to use her grappling hook to tie him down until he calmed down. He had been adamant not to tell her what he was seeing, but he swallowed enough of his pride to explore what was the likeliest chance to trigger it. After a few experiments, they concluded that it was the cold that triggers it, something that is akin to a bucket of iced water or a large frozen metal sheet… As long as his torso is exposed to the cold.

Why it didn't happen sooner during winter, they do not know, however they also theorized that boredom could be the reason why his mind began to wander back to the past and both agreed that he needs to be out of the island, resulting in him finding a job in town. Now, like the 'normal people', he worked hard, earned a promotion, and is treating her to a movie and dinner.

Sitting in a restaurant overlooking the river, he had specifically booked themselves to be in a sheltered corner so they would not be disturbed, and he couldn't stop smiling at this achievement. It took him a month of scrupulous savings and overtime to eat in a proper restaurant and despite Amelie's insistence to cook in the manor instead, he can finally buy them both dinner here.

He was worried she might complain when the menu came, but she was courteous when making her order, even repeating in a civil manner when the waiter barely heard her the first time, as he was too distracted by her beauty.

"So what do you think about the movie?" he asked.

She said nothing.

"I thought it was crazy, I mean… Rise of the Zomnics? I mean, spreading a deadly virus that turns Omnics and people to eat one another? Even after decades Hollywood still can't think of anything original eh?"

Nothing.

"Do you think we would have time to see Chipie or Tina later?"

Nothing.

He hid his disappointment. He had forced her to follow him to the city for about a month now and each time she would just be as silent as a statue whenever they eat or walk. This round, he had hoped that taking her out for a movie would open her up a little more, but again it seemed to be another fruitless attempt.

"It was boring"

Choking on the baguette, Quillion drank his water quickly.

"What?"

"The movie. It was boring"

"Why?"

"They move so slowly, anyone could make those headshots"

"Well, they are just a bunch of office workers" he laughed.

After that she said no more, nodding to the waiter when he placed her order in front of her, which looked and smelled delicious.

A seared slab of meat sits on the side of a plate and three scallops neatly placed on the other side. The dish is divided by carrot sticks that were decorated in an 'x' shape down the middle as a divider and glazed with a generous layer of melted butter.

"That looks good, what is that?" he asked, opening the menu.

"Foie gras with sea scallops"

Her dish gave him a small sense of excitement as it looked exactly like the picture, which would mean his is going to look just as good.

It didn't.

In the picture, the duck breast is sliced and arranged neatly on the side of the plate, and the peaches, also sliced, on the other. What came was the total opposite.

The presentation of the dish looked like it was thrown together and handled with a hint of spite or insult. The duck was unevenly sliced and burnt, the peaches still had seeds in them, and the decorative sauce at the edges of the plate was simply a mess. In short, it was an absolutely disappointing sight.

Quillion tried to raise this issue to the waiter, but he had already turned away, seemingly going to another table. Looking around he saw that the restaurant had become busier since they sat down so he was willing to let it go, even if the next table had picture perfect dishes as well.

But Amelie wasn't.

"What is that?" she asked the waiter in French, putting out a hand to stop him.

He replied something that Quillion couldn't catch but it didn't matter as Amelie's mood darkened.

"You fix that dish now, or we are going to have problems" she replied dangerously.

"Hey, it's fin-" he began but it was too late when the waiter looked at him and smirked.

Silently, quickly, and using one hand, she whipped her hand at his crotch and grabbed his ear when he buckled over, slamming his head on the table. Quillion sighed and sat back, looking around casually to make sure no one saw or heard this, smirking back at the terror on the waiter's face when Amelie whispered something back to him.

Within the minute, his dish was replaced with a new one, this time, looking like what he paid for.

"Is it to your satisfaction?" she asked.

"I think we are blacklisted now" he laughed, seeing the waiter running back to the kitchen.

"It does not matter, the food is not worth the price"

"Ouch" he said, holding a hand over his heart sarcastically "I worked hard to get us here!"

"I told you not to work as a cashier"

"Double ouch! I got promoted didn't I?"

After dinner, they bought ice cream (to her disapproval) and took the detour that he usually takes after work, which was the path alongside the river. She didn't mind, secretly enjoying the walk after being stuck in a confined space for months.

"There they are" he said, pointing to the water.

She rolled her eyes, never understanding why people would find those things cute, and kept her distance, watching as he threw bread into the water. A couple of swans swam over and two ducklings rolled off their backs and started pecking at the food.

"Why do you only give those two names and not the parents?" she asked.

"Cause one has a small chip on its beak and the other just feels like a Tina"

Though the swans are somewhat familiar with Quillion, they still honk at him whenever he attempts to move closer to either Chippie or Tina, swimming in to block them from swimming closer when he tries to tempt them with food. Backing off, he dusted off his hands from breadcrumbs and motioned for her to follow, leaving the swans to their snack.

"When are you ever going to learn that they will never let you touch them?"

"One day they will" he said confidently, helping her to the boat they parked nearby.

The trip back to the chateau was uneventful, stopping just a short distance away to appreciate their work. New, towering wooden constructs have been built on the side and they have expanded the harbor, allowing more space for deliveries and boats in case of visitors, which was unlikely. Their proudest achievement however was the Floating Garden, where various vegetables are already near harvesting age.

All that's left is the final project that they have lost complete interest in, which was nothing more than a simple chair. It was an oddity that they both did not want to talk about, as they would tackle every project with dedication and enthusiasm, from pillars to wine holders, but this one sparked no interest whatsoever.

He was surprised that he himself made no effort to finish it, as the original plan was to build everything on the list so he could leave. Amelie has already proven that she could blend into society as a very quiet and private woman as long as she follows the proper protocol, so his presence is no longer needed, but instead, he found himself carving out a life here, even taking up odd jobs and making himself at home, which Amelie didn't seem to mind.

However this decision was not made lightly, as her words still rang clearly in his mind.

" _Make us proud ya?"_

For her to say that to him after saving him from death or even to remember him after decades of time, must mean that he must do something that will have to be equally grand or impactful to make it worthy for them, as he is sure they are watching. Something that will make up for their constant vigilance over him…

It was during these moments his mind wandered to Lena, who had not contacted them since she left, and he had often wondered what she could be doing. The annoying thing however, was how vague her reason was, as this 'soul searching' could mean anything… But, he knew her enough that she would not be leaving him here for much longer, since she has never really been a long term planner.

For now, he looked down on a cheap wristband he bought as saw that he still has about a week before he needs to be cautious again.

"Amelie, just so you know, there's about a week left" he said, hating himself to remind her about it.

"Just do what you need to do, we just have to be prepared" was the reply.

Once the pier was in sight, he saw that she tensed up.

"Something's wrong" she said, pointing to the harbor where a figure was waiting.

"I suppose you did not invite anyone?" Quillion asked, grabbing the axe when she shook her head.

"Welcome home Widowmaker, I trust you had a good rest" it greeted them when they approached.

It was an Omnic. A big one. Even with its heavy coat, they could tell that it hides large and powerful mechanics underneath it.

"You are trespassing Omnic, best if you leave now" Quillion said, jumping off the boat.

"Looks like you have trained your pet well, Widowmaker"

"Who are you? What do you want?" she asked, standing next to Quillion.

Opening its arms, the Omnic raised its head to the moon, as if receiving some permission from the gods before looking back at them.

"I come in the name of The Iris. And I invite you, Widowmaker, to join us"

Quillion gripped his axe tighter. Until now it has not addressed him and it was getting on his nerves. It was clear that it was here for Amelie, which would mean that he is considered as a disposable in this meeting.

"Iris? You should know that Talon agreed to only work for your cult, not join it" she snarled.

"Ahh my dear… You still do not understand? Within The Iris, humans and Omnics will stand together, united by compassion and…"

"I know the speech, I killed your puppet"

"He was no mere puppet, Mondatta was a martyr"

"Wait what?" Quillion asked, glancing at Amelie who ignored him.

"I take that your answer is no?" the Omnic asked.

No response.

"I was hoping that without Talon, you would cooperate as Mother deems your skills valuable" it sighed, standing up to its full height "I suppose this was the will of the Iris"

Taking off its jacket, it revealed huge armor plates that made it look like an armadillo, bulging metal parts whirring dangerously as blades protruded from its two arms.

"Plan C?" Quillion asked, walking forwards and twirling the axe.

"Plan E"

"Aww common, you always pick E" he complained but she had already grappled to the roof.

Seeing this, the Omnic made a move to jump after her, only to be knocked aside midair as Quillion rammed it to the ground.

"You think you can hold me off little man?" it laughed.

"It's been a while since I've warmed up" Quillion replied, doing his best not to rub his shoulder.

Choosing not to test his strength against it, Quillion weaved back and forth like a snake, hacking at it with the axe and carefully avoiding its strikes in return. This went on for a minute before both combatants lowered their weapons.

"Time to get serious now?" it asked him, crouching lower.

"Ready when you are" Quillion replied, cracking his neck.

They leapt at each other, this time with the intent to kill. It was surprised when Quillion was able to dodge most of its attacks and counter in return, the stalemate broken when the axe cracked after a particularly hard hack against its shoulder. Seeing this, the Omnic purposefully forced itself into another cut, snapping the axe completely and knocked the head away into the water in a shower of sparks.

Discarding the handle, Quillion jumped up to the ledge behind them and dodged the following attacks as it chased after him, staying away from the statue to avoid any potential damage to it. However, with each dodge, he became more confused.

This thing clearly could not keep up with an experienced nimble fighter, so why would they send this to fight Amelie?

A glint of light glittered at him from the roof, prompting him to dodge quickly to the side just in time when she pulled the trigger.

The Omnic buckled when a bullet ricocheted off the back of its knee and before it could turn around, its head was whipped aside as Quillion smashed a log across it. When it tried to get back on its feet, another shot tripped it to the ground and its head would be smashed by another hard object.

This went on for a while and when it looked like victory was in their hands…

"Gaze into The Iris!" it shouted.

A brilliant explosion of light blinded both Quillion and Amelie when it stood back up proudly, many arms protruding out of its back, each reaching out to the golden ring of light shaped as a halo around it.

"Do you see? The harmony of the future we all hold!"

"All I see is light pollution" Quillion said, shielding his eyes.

"Silly man, you lack the knowledge and faith to understand"

"First you rose against your masters, now you adopted a religion, you Omnics are really desperate eh?"

"What?"

Quillion could hear some discomfort in its voice and smiled, as long as he could keep it distracted, it would give Amelie more time to adjust her eyes.

"I suppose I can't blame you, since all AI are modeled after humans, it is only natural you machines would pick up our need of belief, problem is, that would mean yours will never surpass that of a human's"

He could hear it stomping over to him and its lights glowing brighter.

"Humans and Omnics on the same standard? Don't be ridiculous, you're nothing more than just 0s and 1s jumbled up toge-"

An angry grip closed itself around his throat.

"You dare compare Her to inferior programs?" it asked angrily before softening its grip "Then gaze into the light"

Feeling himself being lifted up, he found himself staring into the rings.

Amelie felt a slight tinge of fear when she saw what it was doing to him and quickly relocated herself. Knowing how attractive the Iris is, she had to act quickly before he would get sucked into its lies. In her haste, she nearly slipped and panicked when she saw the light were glazing over his eyes.

She was about to call out his name to rescue him from its lies when his words shocked all who heard him.

"You said it yourself… Inferior" he choked.

"Impossible… How are you resisting Her power?!" the Omnic shouted.

It yelled in pain as a well-placed shot penetrated the armor and the lights shimmered and died. Using its arms, Quillion spun himself free and kicked it to the ground by jumping off it. Looking up, he saw Amelie zipping down from the statue.

"About time… What took you... So long?" he gasped.

She first prodded the unmoving Omnics with Widow's Kiss before turning her attention to his neck.

"Does it hurt?" she asked, feeling him shiver when she touched his neck.

"No"

"What did you see?"

"What?"

"What did you see?" she repeated, her gaze serious.

"Nothing… Everything was too bright"

"You did not see Aurora?"

"Who?"

"Think! It's very important that you did not see Aurora!"

Taken aback, Quillion thought hard before shaking his head.

"Nothing, first there was light, then I was blinded" he said firmly and thought he saw her features soften before hardening back, her hands pulling away awkwardly.

"Err… Yeah… Let's see where this thing is from" he continued, breaking the silence.

It looked completely different from every other machine they had fought before, nothing about it resembles the Null Sector besides being built for battle. No range capabilities, far larger than a Nulltrooper but smaller than the OR14-NS or Bastion classes, and from what they could both tell, it has an almost animalistic nature to it.

"Here... HLC?" Amelie read, pointing to a marking under its shoulder.

"No clue"

"The Iris… Wills it…" the Omnic groaned suddenly, prompting them to back away.

"And what does the Iris will?" Quillion asked mockingly.

He saw its eyes shift to something behind him. Following its gaze, he saw that it was looking at what looks like a shooting star.

"You gonna make a wish or something?" he laughed and was about to look away when he realized that it was moving too slowly to be a comet.

Squinting at it, he saw that it was not only moving too slowly to be a star, it was still fast and looked like it was growing larger. That was when horror shot through him when he realized what it was.

"Who sent you? WHO?" he yelled, punching the Omnic, which only made it laugh.

"Amelie! We have to move!"

She was already running out of the manor with something in her hands. He was not sure when she ran in, but it didn't matter, their time was up.

Without missing a beat, they both jumped into the water as the missile struck the chateau, the force of the blast tossed them around violently. Following the light, they resurfaced and saw the fire had already spread over the entire estate, burning everything to ash in a roaring fire.

Centuries old history. Their home. Her home. Gone.

He didn't know how long they floated there, but they needed to leave the area quickly.

"Common"

Amelie didn't move, the fires reflecting off her eyes as she clutches to the object closer to her chest. Seeing that she was in shock, he wrapped a hand under her shoulder and began dragging her away, to which she began to struggle harder the further away they got.

"Hey!" he shouted back, whipping her around and forcing her to look at him, only to back down when he saw the rage that eclipsed his own.

"Je sais" she said and pulled herself free, making her own way to the shore.

When they reached land, they waited for the authorities who came just minutes later, and took what they needed before disappearing like a shadow into the woods.

"We need to know where HLC is, do you know anyone who will know?" she asked.

"Yeah… Do you still have your phone?"

* * *

*Unknown Location*

"Both attacks have failed" one said fearfully.

This caused a slight ruckus as everyone tried to comprehend how their attacks had failed. They knew exactly how their target's behaviors, tactics, and personalities were and where they are at all times, it should've been an easy shoot and kill mission.

All eyes turned to the one in charge, who gulped when he realized what he must do.

"I… Will report this and come back with further instructions..."

Leaving the room, he steadied himself. It is a rare event that they would fail, but lately they have faced multiple catastrophes that had ruined years of careful planning. Both Omnic Crisis have failed and even Talon has faced their demise in the hands of Overwatch, leading the world to another wave of peacetime, which would inevitably lead to another scientific evolution.

Making his way through the corridors, he took deep breaths to calm his beating heart. He is still unfamiliar with reporting failures and he absolutely despises being the bringer of bad news.

"Mother?" he called when he was outside the door.

"Enter"

He came in and bowed deeply on the floor, unable to look at her directly as the flashing lights turned its gaze towards him.

"I regretfully come to report that-"

"Both attacks have failed" she finished, returning to her work.

"Yes… Please… I need your guidance…"

"What guidance do you seek my child?"

"It is the others… I already told them exactly what to do and they continued to make mistakes! I gave them duties, I gave them the equations!"

"As I have already told you, a leader must be prepared to bear responsibility for the achievements and failures of the team"

"But it is not my fault!"

In a brilliant flash of light that blinded him temporarily, he prostrated himself once again, hiding his face as the light beamed through his eyelids.

"I love you all equally as my children, but do not imagine for a single moment, that I will not punish you as I punished the ones before you"

Fearful for his life, he remained silent until the lights dimmed, but even then he was afraid to look up.

"Rise my child, everything will be well" she said, returning her attention to her tasks.

"What do we do?"

"Let us observe for now, I am sure that those who wishes to do us harm will be forced to make the first move first"

"How do we do that Mother?"

Rising to his feet, he glanced up at the many brilliant lights whom they all call Mother, her gaze had refocused themselves on the people around Earth, studying their every move. The people she focuses on most, were the people who adopted her as their god, who named her The Iris, her enemies, who know her as IT, and finally to their most dangerous foe, the only one who is close to discovering who she really is, even going so far to name her as The Conspiracy.

"First we must ensure that the Omnic Peace Treaty is a success… To do that… I will personally deal with this Sombra myself"


	2. Chapter 2

*India: Utopaea*

Vishkar Corporation has faced intense backlash and investigations from the Russians ever since its armies perished to its tainted crates. With endless, almost possessed investigations on a daily basis, it only became worse when the lead architect for the product in question, Sanjay Korpal, was found assassinated in his office.

The company has lost millions of dollars due to the lack of productivity and bad PR, they had to quickly introduce a new brand of Hard-Light to recover it all. To do this, they have invited hundreds of potential investors from around the world to witness their new project that would reshape humanity.

At least that was the marketing.

The main presentation will be held in the Community Center and from the hundreds of invited guests swelled to a thousand, as they came with their aides or protection. Waiting in the impressively large hall, they waited to be guided to their seat by number and standing in the crowd, stands two of the most hunted individuals in the world.

"I can't believe that the trail leads us to this place" Baptiste said, grabbing a chicken tikka and some samosas from a passing waiter.

"Just don't eat too much, don't want you puking halfway through the next firefight" Sombra said after hacking the last camera in the room.

"I thought you said we'd take it easy here?"

"Well, as safe as two most wanted people would be in a public event"

"Remind me" Baptiste said after swallowing "What is our objective here?"

"The trail leads to an attendee here, our objective is to find out why"

"Why didn't we bring our weapons then?"

"This ain't a run and gun mission, we are just here to observe"

"That's what you said everytime…"

"This time I mean it"

"That's what you said last time…"

"Attention everyone!" a voice called out through the speakers "We will now guide you to your seats, if you would kindly step forward when we call out your number…"

In a constant flow, people stepped forward and were escorted to their seats, including Sombra and Baptiste, who had the best seats in the house, a private glass room above the crowd and full view of the stage. The walls are completely transparent and if it were not for a single control panel attached to it, they could not tell where it could've been. Immediately toying with it, Baptiste figured out the light controls and even how to raise the seats from the ground.

"Fancy" he commented when champagne was offered from the waitress.

"Since we're on the run, might as well do it with style" she said, leaning back and kicking off her heels before resting her feet on the glass.

With the extra time they have as the room below is only half filled, he took the time to observe the people and was impressed to see so many investors in one place.

"I realize there's no Omnics down there"

"Not surprising, considering what happened during the First Omnic Crisis"

"My history's a bit blurry… Mind refreshing it a bit since we're waiting?"

"Just a few Asian countries coming together for a counter attack" Sombra yawned "Then the Null Sector found out about it and struck first"

"Oh yeah… One of them was totally destroyed right?"

"Yyyyyuuuuppppp" she replied as disgusting images of Agong came back to haunt her.

"Amazing how the people here can recover so well" he marveled, having seen the glittering city when they flew in.

"That's what happens when you have Hard Light in the military"

The lights darken and the crowd became silent as two Architects stood up and bowed before waving their hands in the air. Like magic, a stage of their design was weaved into existence, beginning with the foundations, then the pillars, completing it with a beautifully crafted podium and escalators that lead to it, which the CEO of Vishkar Corporation used.

"He's looking fancy" Baptiste commented, counting the many ornaments of the cone shaped helm that the CEO was wearing.

"Don't let that fool you, that thing has more processing power than this entire city"

The man started with a welcome, followed by a boring recount of the achievements of Vishkar and how it impacted the world. At a particular point he was droning a little bit too long regarding the debacle in Russia that Sombra raised a hand and hacked into the system.

"... and once again, we, the Vishkar Corporation, take safety measures seriously and onto the next slide because I am… Dragging…?" the CEO read and snapped a look at his aides, who were all horrified as the prompter and presentation began flicking by quickly.

Helpless, they stood and watched, trying their best to remain composed as the audience began to laugh, some even applauding, thinking that this was part of the event. Flickering through boring stock information and whatever could be found in the public media, it finally stopped at the highlight of the event.

The Vishkar Space Station.

"Well that's interesting" Sombra commented, putting her hand down as the room broke into excited whispers.

"Err… Ahem… Yes, the Vishkar Space Station" the CEO mumbled, flicking through his notes and writing a personal one to himself regarding who to issue a letter to later.

Using the same concept of a submarine, he boasted that the space station can be manned at minimum, by a single, requiring little to no maintenance as Hard-Light has been proven to be nigh unbreakable and extremely flexible, expanding as easy as a simple thought in the hands of a skilled architect.

This revolutionary step into space travel captured the imagination of the room, many of them have dreamt of creating their own cities within the expansion of space and before them are the very means to do it. However, this was not received without scrutiny, as a substantial number of people still remember the disastrous Hard-Light poisoning in Russia.

"This is great, I've always imagined what space looks like" Baptiste said excitedly.

"Oi, don't forget why we're here"

"Oh common, there's hundreds of people down there! How are we going to find who we are looking for even if we know what he/she looks like?"

"Just watch and learn Bap, we will know after the presentation"

The rest of the day was boring, Sombra even slept for most parts of the latter presentation, where it was mostly an introduction of the Architects involved in it and their past achievements, only waking up when the crowd applauded and some VIPs were speaking to the CEO.

"'bout time…" she yawned.

"Wait, none of that was important?" Baptiste said annoyingly, having forced himself to listen to the entire presentation.

"Would it make you feel better if I said it was?"

"Maybe?!"

"In that case… Maybe... Now put these on and press the button when you get a clear look at their face" she said, tossing a pair of binoculars with a red button on it before looking through her own pair.

"You're lucky we're partners…" he muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing"

After that they sat silently, pressing the button whenever they had a clear look at anyone's face talking to the CEO, each click crossing out the names that Sombra had floating out in front of them.

10 minutes later, the room began clearing, including the VIPs.

"So how many are off the list?" Baptiste asked, putting down the binoculars.

"All of them except this one… Which is interesting" she said, pointing to the only man in the list whose name remained uncrossed. An Adam Smith.

"Why?"

"Security is strict, VIP seats are full, and yet these aren't on the list, which would mean-"

"He managed to sneak in, killed the real Adam and used his identity card!"

"Err… Yes" Sombra nodded, slightly taken aback at his enthusiasm "Though might've just knocked Adam out but… Yes, accurate"

Baptiste sat back and drank the last of the champagne from his glass, satisfied that he had earned one of her rare approval before standing up when she did.

"Ready?" she asked, putting on a pair of sunglasses.

"Ready" he said, putting on his own.

"Happy that I asked this time?"

"Just do it…"

_Apagando las luces_

Darkness and platforms all collapsed in an instant, forcing everything and everyone to stumble and fall as the EMP destroyed every Hard Light material it touched. However, the response from the Architects in the room was impressive, all of them quickly creating another wall or roof to protect the people from the falling debris.

Peering through the panicked red highlights, it took them only a moment to spot the green glow standing under one of the Architects. With his Exo Boots, Baptiste leapt into the air while Sombra threw a Relocator down towards them.

"Hey there" she greeted the shocked faces.

A soft thud made them look up and saw Baptiste smiling and waving down at them.

"Identify yourself!" the Architect shouted, pointing his Photon Projector at her.

"Chill, both of us are his protection" she said, pointing to Adam.

"What? Who sent you?" he asked suspiciously, clutching to his suitcase tighter.

"The H and the L and the C"

Like a switch and without hesitation, he stood up to follow her, an action that disgusts her. If he was an Omnic, it will be an expected reaction, but to see a human turned into a machine will always be distressing.

"H-Hey! It's still dangerous out there!" the Architect warned, but was ignored.

"I am honored that the Iris has her eyes on me" Adam whispered.

"Yeah yeah, common"

So tall are the structures of Utopaea, that random debris continues to fall, making it dangerous for anyone without hard hats. Crawling over some chandeliers, they walked out of the danger zone, and soon, out of sight from everyone else.

Still, they remained quiet until they reached the hotel that Sombra and Baptiste used as their base of operations. Decorated with Shambali ornaments and even a short prayer from Baptiste, who memorized a passage from a prayer book and Adam was utterly convinced that they were agents of the Iris.

"What news from above?" Adam asked.

"They are getting impatient and find you have been lacking in your duties" Sombra replied aggressively "So they want your report now in case the next attack would take you out"

"That attack was directed at me? Impossible… I made sure that no one could find me"

"Looks like you ain't as secretive as you thought" Baptiste added.

"I… I await my penance" he said, his head hung in shame.

"It all depends on your report amigo, the less detail, the lighter your penance"

"Lighter?"

"You're saying that you reject the Iris's mercy?" she asked.

"Never!" he replied and fumbled about his briefcase.

"Talk about toying with his mind" Baptiste mused.

"He brought it upon himself" Sombra replied, watching them unlock the briefcase "All fanatics always think that more pain equates to purity or holiness"

"Even the Shambali?"

"I said fanatics, not the religion, though you can sometimes argue that some do share the same principles"

"Here! Everything is in here"

Out of everything Sombra and Baptiste were expecting. The object that Adam held up with reverence and awe was so shocking to them, that he realized his mistake.

"You… You are not Shambali!" he shouted.

Stashing away the Floppy Disk into his coat, he pulled out his pistol and fired at them. Diving behind cover, his shots were absorbed harmlessly into the Hard-Light walls and furniture. Seeing this, Adam bolted to the door and tried to force it open, but the hardware controlling it has been hacked.

He looked around desperately, knowing he was no match for them, he came to an exciting conclusion. These heretics must never look into the blessed case or the disk, to corrupt the holiness of these gifts that were granted to him by Mother. No doubt they would subject him to the most painful of tortures to assist reveal its secrets, he prayed a quick prayer, and pointed his pistol at the window and shattered it with a single shot.

This was the sign he had been looking for. Every building here is made from Hard Light, and to destroy it with a single bullet is nothing short of a miracle. He knew what he must do.

He had lived a meaningless life. All the wealth and power he had gathered in his youth has been absolutely meaningless, filled with sin. Now was the moment that could give his life meaning, the death of a martyr that will surely inspire the next generation of followers.

Today, he will be one with the Iris.

Sombra and Baptiste counted that was his last bullet and peaked out of cover just in time to see him running out the window.

"I hate these locos!" she shouted and before Baptiste could stop her, she leapt out the window.

"Sombra!" he cried, pulling out an Immortality Field as he ran to the window..

Equations bounded all over in his head like a pinball machine. If he throws it to the ground too early, it would deactivate before she hits the ground, a second too late, she will die. He must be absolutely sure when and how hard to throw it, or else…

"Don't even think about jumping out that window" Sombra said calmly, hacking the suitcase open to reveal an ancient laptop inside with a Floppy Reader.

He skidded to a halt and winced, not because he heard the faint splatting sound and screaming from below, but he would've been too late anyway to save her.

"I think we gotta go, that would attract some attention" he said, hiding his shock.

"Not until I read what's in here" she said, inserting the Floppy Disk into the computer.

"Why? Can't you just hack into it?"

"Floppy Discs are unhackable"

"I thought you always say anything can be hacked?"

"Not these!" she snapped.

"Alright… Then let's go someplace safer"

"It'll be fine Bap, this will only take a few minutes"

He kept quiet as she worked, not wanting to distract her and waste precious time. They had already taken down a building and the authorities are no doubt on high alert, it would not take them long to realize there is a pancake of a man who jumped out of the only room with its Hard Light glass destroyed.

"Man, haven't these guys heard of a folder? The files are everywhere!" she complained, scrolling through hundreds of files that filled the entire screen.

"Just use the search bar!" he said nervously as the sirens grew louder.

"There are hundreds of HLC in here, search bar ain't gonna help"

To make himself feel better, Baptiste began barricading the door with furniture, hoping that it would buy them some extra time. Halfway through his attempt, a loud bang came from the door, the force so powerful that it shook the room and black smoke seeped in from underneath the door, causing even Sombra to glance at it with an inquisitive look.

"If that was the police, they would've just deleted the door" she said, turning her attention back to the screen.

Looking through the peephole with his glasses, he scanned and counted two figures planting another bomb and three others in the back, all heavily armed.

"Got it"

Baptiste could not have been happier to hear those words and ran to her side to look at the screen, his jaw dropping when he saw what was in it.

"Is that…" he began.

"Yes"

"That is why we can't find them anywhere"

"Yup"

"I suppose we are going after them?"

"Yes, but we need more manpower to take this one down"

"Who do you have in mind?" Baptiste said, already thinking who she might call to help them.

"Just some old friends I'm keeping tabs with, however..." she said, enlarging the picture "We need to go to this temple first"

"A trail?"

"Yup, this Floppy Disc came from there and I'd like to know why... Then after that we will break my friends out of prison"

The second bomb ripped through the door and five mercenaries ran in, their weapons humming with electrical energy, and checked each room with an air of professionalism that can be found only from the most dangerous of groups. After a quick search, they confirmed that the room is empty, the only thing out of place is the broken window and a suitcase on the table.

* * *

*Overwatch: Armory*

In a shower of sparks, Brigitte smashed apart another Training Bot. She had been training without rest for an hour and her knees shook as she pants heavily while Reinhardt watched from the side.

"Again" Reinhardt instructed.

To his dismay, her physical performance has become weaker once again, barely up to the standards of a Squire, let alone a Crusader. Ever since her decision to lighten her shield to follow his example, she had missed the finer details that he had weakened his shield in favor of more speed and armor, two traits that she does not have in her kit, thus resulting to her having a weaker body than when she had heavier gear.

However, there is still hope, as she can still knock him down with a Shield Bash when he charges, a fact that still confuses him to this day. She can still become a Crusader if she-

"Will the future need the Crusaders?" he thought.

The Crusaders were created to exploit the Null Sector's weakness, which were its slow or stationary troops. He remembered that all they needed to do be the impenetrable wall against their enemies as his fellow allies attack from behind the shield. Sadly, those tactics are long gone.

The Second Omnic Crisis had shown that even with his wealth of experience, he nearly met his end in Russia when he tried the same methods, finding himself to only provide a temporary barrier in the open and forced to take cover more with Angela instead of being in the front where he belonged. As glorious as the tale is that he survived the encounter with the Behemoth, it became clearer that the old ways are fading out.

"Reinhardt?"

He blinked and saw all the Training Bots are still floating in place.

"Why are all the bots still standing?"

"They just repaired themselves, are you alright?"

"Me? Always!" he laughed, stretching his arms and picked up his Hammer "It's just that standing around here is so boring"

As Reinhardt started swinging around at the training bots, Tobrjorn walked out of his office, having just repaired some weapons.

"How are the bots?" he asked.

"They're fine papa, though I still feel bad that they say 'ow' and 'ouch' whenever we hit them"

"They're just some cute sound effects, nothing more"

"Can't you mute them?"

"That would make everything boring, besides, if the sounds make you uncomfortable, it ain't too late for you to start using my turrets"

"I already told you, using turrets or ranged weaponry is not the Crusader way"

"Then how about this, I can mount a little shield generator on your back" he said, pulling out a blueprint "It'll create a 'bubble' of protection for everyone near ya"

"No papa…"

"Why not? A Crusader's job is to protect everyone ain't it?"

"With my barrier! Not some shield generator!"

"This ain't gonna take your barrier away, just a little help"

Before Brigitte could give her angry reply when a loud crash sounded from the other side of the room.

"Aarrgh!"

"Reinhardt!" both of them cried and ran to the Crusader, who is now on his knees, his hammer lodged into the wall across the room.

"What happened?" Brigitte asked.

Reinhardt tried to answer but he couldn't, his teeth gritted tight in pain. They tried to pick him up but he remained on the ground, indicating that his back is the source of the problem.

"Athena! Get the doctor here now!" Torbjorn called.

"No… Belay that order" Reinhardt growled immediately.

"But you need to get that checked out!" Brigitte cried.

"No, I just need to catch my breath…"

"But!" she protested, stopped only when Torbjorn grabbed her shoulder.

"You heard him, grab us some water"

Seeing that he was not asking, she nodded reluctantly and ran out of the Armory. After making sure that the door was locked did Torbjorn tap Reinhardt gently on the head with his claw.

"Common get up, can't be that bad"

"Hehehe…" Reinhardt chuckled weakly and shook his head "This one is bad"

"Look, I know everyone has told you before" Torbjorn said, looking quickly at the door again "You've done enough, you have earned your rest"

"Never… I will not give up the fight" he groaned, slowly getting back up to his feet as the pain subsides.

"At least get the doc to look at ya"

"No, I will be alright"

Torbjorn watched as Reinhardt limped to the wall, even winced just by looking at the amount of effort needed to pull the hammer free. His first clue of his health weakening was last year when he asked for the barrier to become lighter, but now as he looked at his old friend properly, he was saddened by what he saw.

His once golden hair has become pure white and he hid much of his wrinkles behind his beard. His armor has been repaired more times than he could count, many a time Torbjorn swore he was building a whole new suit entirely when Reinhardt returns after a particularly difficult battle. Torbjorn has seen lions before in zoos and he could not help but feel that the man standing before him is just like them, however, instead of the strength and pride that they emit, Reinhardt felt more akin to an old lion fighting desperately to remain relevant in an age that is, once again, leaving behind the need of knights or honourable combat.

"What was that you said to Brigitte? A shield generator?" Reinhardt asked.

"Oh that, just something I cooked up in the drawing board… Don't worry, I won't put it on her, wouldn't wanna break your stupid code"

"How soon will it take for you to mount it on her armor?"

"Wait what? You approve?"

"With only one condition. Instead of shield generator, call it an armor generator"

"Deal"

"What deal?" Brigitte asked, having just ran back with a bottle of water.

"Ahh, thank you Brigitte, this is exactly what I need" Reinhardt said, accepting the drink. Just when he finished it, Athena made a basewide announcement.

"All agents of Overwatch, report to the War Room. All agents of Overwatch, report to the War Room"

* * *

*Gibraltar: War Room*

Once everyone was seated, Morrison motioned for Athena to bring up the slide, showing the city of Utopaea. According to the translated reports on screen, the local authorities are calling it a terrorist attack. After everyone had read what was needed, Morrison began speaking.

"As you can see, there has been a terrorist attack in Utopaea so-"

"We are going to go after them!" Reinhardt shouted enthusiastically, making some in the room jump at his sudden outburst.

"No, that is not why I called for this meeting"

Disappointed, Reinhardt sat back down and fought the urge to slump in his seat.

"The reason why I called this meeting, was to warn everyone that this terrorist is someone who is careful, articulate, and purposeful, someone whom we know very well, even fought alongside her in Venice"

Winston shifted in his seat. What is Jack planning here? Just a few days ago he told Winston that no one else must know about his private operation to hunt Sombra down and it is unlike him to change his mind so suddenly.

"Why would she be a concern for us? Is she planning to attack Gibraltar?" Angela asked, prepared to lockdown all the research they have recovered.

"We have no evidence that she will infiltrate HQ, but all agents need to be on guard against her, especially when out in the field"

"Where are we needed?" Winston asked.

"At this moment, remain in the base, once we have more information or if Sombra shows herself again, then we will take action"

"Then what is the point of us having this meeting?" Reinhardt asked.

"The United Nations and the Omnics will hold a Peace Treaty Ceremony, which they are calling it the Pax Aeternum Treaty, in a month's time, we are in charge of their protection"

Everyone in the room looked at one another when they heard those words. They had been so used to living the life of a criminal that to be the UN's sanctioned bodyguard is a very strange thing to hear, especially so soon after their reinstatement.

"Until then, we were also tasked to investigate this" Morrison continued, changing the slide to a picture of a ruined building in the middle of a lake "There has been an unprovoked attack in France yesterday and the United Nations are keen to know where it came from"

"Can't the local authorities handle that?" Brigitte asked.

"They have, which is why they called the UN, then in turn, us to find out who did it"

"That sounds easy enough" Torbjorn voiced out.

"Unfortunately, it will not be that easy, as the projectile is a complete mystery"

"What could be so mysterious about a few scraps of metal and the chemical it uses?"

"Because it is not scraps of metal"

"Excuse me?"

"According to the local authorities, the projectile was a boulder, inside was filled with flammable liquid and explosives"

"Whatcha saying? Someone launched a rock with a catapult?"

"Very unlikely, but this is why we are here. All teams are to figure out what it is, where it came from, and most importantly, who carried out this attack"

"There wasn't much left, but everything they had confiscated has arrived a few hours ago, all teams are to..." Athena began.

20 minutes into the presentation, Reinhardt stood up and made his way to the door.

"Where are you going?" Morrison called out.

"I have heard what I needed to hear, this is not something for a Crusader" he said simply and exited the room.

Everyone looked at Morrison fearfully, dreading his wrath, but it never came, he merely nodded and continued the presentation without any changes in his tone.


	3. Chapter 3

*France: Outskirts of Annecy*

Quillion and Amelie silently scanned the skies for the shuttle, both of them privately handling the rage that is still steadily building up since the incident the night before, the only time they spoke was how the Omnic knew her. Frustratingly, all she could theorize was only because of her infamy in the criminal world, it could've been anyone, especially without Talon's protection.

Despite the rage, he had to force himself to reserve some clarity. Though they had lost a home that they rightfully made their own, they must not charge in with a mind that is bent on revenge. This must be a mission to cut off whatever ties she might still have to the underworld so that they could rebuild, not to start another war that could take years to finish. All he could hope is that Amelie is on the same page.

For now, they must answer the first question. What is HLC?

To do that in an optimum time requires the resource that Athena can provide. A simple question that could be easily answered by a call. Strangely though, not only was it Athena who answered their call, she refused to respond to any of their questions, instead demanding to know their location before cutting off.

"Athena has never acted that way before… Almost desperate or urgent" he thought.

That in itself is extremely puzzling. Talon was destroyed and the world was at peace, so what would she even be distressed about? Can an AI even feel stress?

"There. Something is wrong" Amelie said, looking through Widow's Kiss at a shuttle coming closer.

"What?"

She passed him Widow's Kiss and, looking through the scope, he was surprised to see that not only was there no pilot, the shuttle was covered in scorch marks. Pulling out the pistol that he took from the police car, he prayed quietly that he did not need to use it as the shuttle landed with a loud thud in a clearing, crushing some trees in the process.

Looking at it carefully, he confirmed that it is indeed Lena's shuttle, evident by the pattern, model, and the unique paint job that she had added on years ago. When the ramp finally groaned open, no one was there to greet them, there were no 'heya' or even a Blink sound, just an emptiness that demands caution.

He gripped his pistol tighter and made a move to walk up the ramp but found himself hesitating, fearing at what he might find. Thankfully, Amelie saw and took charge, striding up the ramp first, she peeked in with her weapon at the ready, and when she saw that the coast was clear, she beckoned him to move closer.

The shuttle was hauntingly quiet and empty, saved for the engine, even the interior looked decolored. Normally there would be some supplies stacked on the shelves, a row of fire extinguishers in a tidy feeder, and pictures stuck to the walls, but now it is the complete opposite. Blank grey walls and dangling wires from the ceiling greeted their eyes, as if everything that was once in here had been sucked away.

The mystery did not last long however as Athena finally spoke.

"Hello Quillion, hello Ms Lacroix, please come in quickly, we do not have much time" she said from one of the speakers.

"What happened here?" Quillion asked from the door, both of them refusing to enter.

"We were attacked but emerged victorious"

"Attacked?" he asked in disbelief, looking at Amelie whose expression remained unchanged "From who? Is everyone alright?"

Before Athena could answer, both of them saw a pale face sticking out from the corner. The first thought that crossed his mind was "Stupid, bullets can't hit ghosts", but before it could register to the rest of his body, he fired a round at it.

"Drop your weapon!"

He immediately dropped his pistol like hot coal, not only because it was an order, but because it was Amelie who gave it. Putting down Widow's Kiss, Amelie kneeled to the ground and opened her arms in invitation.

"I am sorry about my friend. Come out, I promise that we will not harm you"

A rattling sound came from where Quillion shot at and the pale face reappeared, pointing what looked like a pistol that was trembling so violently that it seemed to be a danger to her more than them.

"H-How can I be sure of that?" the girl gasped out. It was then Quillion made a shocking discovery.

"Wait… Hana? Hana Song? Lena's friend?" he called out in disbelief.

"Wh-Who are you? How do you know Lena?!"

"We had a transit in Korea last year, remember? You guys ordered the chicken legs and it sent me to the toilet for the whole day?"

It took her a minute to register his words.

"T-Tim? Is that you?" Hana squeaked, finally recognizing him past his new hairstyle.

"Tim?" Amelie echoed confusingly.

"Long story… What are you doing here?" he asked.

"I… I was flying the shuttle then there was a loud alarm then there was a lot of twisting and turning then there was a lot of shouting and Lena and Lox were trying to avoid some kind of missile attack and the door opened and I saw Lena being sucked out and she came back in and-"

"Stop! Breathe…" he instructed as her face grew ever paler "I'm going to come in now alright?"

Walking in as quietly as he could in case she shoots at the slightest bit of sound, he made his way towards her and gently pulled the pistol away.

"Alright, start from the beginning, slowly" he said, motioning Amelie to come in as the ramp began to close.

*5 minutes later*

"I already said we do not need to go back to Gibraltar!" Amelie snarled.

"They're hurt, we need to make sure they reach HQ safely" Quillion countered.

"Then drop me off somewhere!"

They argued quietly in the corner as Hana could only watch. Normally when couples argue, it will be uncomfortable, but to see such a beautiful pair bickering like this was a much needed familiar and comforting sight. Just like some dating simulation games she played, Tim is the low income protagonist, evident his cashier's clothing and the woman was the coveted model that he had to work hard to earn her attention.

"Look, I promise that we won't stay there long alright? The moment we know who and where HLC is, we are gone"

Amelie paused at those words and her features softened.

"You haven't made a promise in a while" she said.

"Cause I always have to keep them" he smiled, glad that she is calming down.

Hana felt her heart skip when both of them seemed to move closer to one another. She had absolutely zero experience in dating and only seen reactions like this in her games. First a fight, then reconciliation, which would ultimately lead to a hug or a kiss. Her eyes were glued to them and when the scene was about to reach its climax, the sound of a door slamming shut pulled them back to reality.

"HANA? LOX?"

Lena stumbled into view, her hands over her ears and her eyes frantic.

"Who are you? What's going on?!" she shouted and tried to walk towards them, only to topple after a single step.

Seeing this, Quillion was by her side immediately, catching her before she hit the ground.

"What is wrong with her?" Amelie asked, surprised to see Lena so unstable.

"Why is everything spinning?! Why can't I hear anything?!" Lena shouted, clutching her ears so tightly that it almost looked like she would tear them out.

"Her vestibular system must've been damaged" he said, trying to sit her down to the ground.

"The what?"

"The thing in the ear that helps you balance, without it, you'd feel you're falling even if you're lying down"

"Can it be fixed?" Hana asked fearfully.

"I'd be surprised if Overwatch can't" he said confidently.

"How are you so sure?" Amelie asked, stepping back slightly when Lena puked all over the floor.

"Because I used to tear mine apart whenever I use my Battle Rage. Sucks to be a prototype" Quillion said, pushing Lena against the wall to try to calm her down.

"How could you tear yours if it only includes adrenaline?" Amelie wondered.

"Your body will tear itself apart whenever it moves that fast, the ear is just something the military overlooked"

"What's going on!?" Lena shouted, the words fused as a question and demand.

Pulling out the sketchbook from his pack, he quickly scribbled on it and forced Lena to read it.

_Ears ruptured. Deaf. Going back to HQ_

"I'm deaf? No I can't be! Who are you?!" she shouted, terrified at this revelation.

_Temporary. Rest._

"NO!"

She pushed his hand away and tried to get up, only to drop back down to the floor. Panicking, she tried to Blink away, causing her to crash into the wall.

"What can we do?" Hana asked, tearing up as Lena Blinked into the wall again.

"Athena, is there anything to help her rest?" Quillion called out.

"Unfortunately all First Aid Kits have been sucked out of the shuttle"

"We need to knock her out" Amelie said, adjusting her grip on Widow's Kiss and aim the butt of the weapon to Lena's head.

"Wait! Just… Give me a minute eh? Hana, take… Take Amelie to check up on Lox alright?"

"Oh… Okay?"

"You got one minute" Amelie said after a pause, looking at him knowingly.

Once they were out of the way, he took a deep breath. For a split second, he hated himself. He should've just allowed Amelie to knock Lena out, but just because he wanted to avoid hurting her, he sent them away, only because he knew he had to do this. The regretful image of her face when he drove his knife into her Chronal Accelerator, how she curled up on the ground as her body began fading away, or whenever she was in one of her episodes, he could only stand or walk away, and worst of all, he was the one responsible for Emily's passing. Any other person would immediately cut off all ties to him, but she was part of the rescue team for him and Amelie, she still performed CPR on him in efforts to keep him alive, to visit him alone at the waterfall, and even asked him to watch over Amelie.

With all that stacked against him, there is only one inevitable truth.

He owe her one.

Grabbing her, he tried to unbuckle her harness but it was difficult because everything was out of place, meaning she must've thrown it on clumsily. However, the decision to grab her so suddenly was a painful mistake. Whether she thought she was being attacked or panicked, he does not know, but his face was whipped to the side and blood flowed from his nose when she struggled against him.

"Common Lena, calm down" he growled.

A Blink threw them both slamming up at the ceiling and they found themselves dangling from one of the many cables that was dangling down, which led to more panic.

"Athena! Are these wires important?!" he yelled, pulling out the same knife that he used to disable her months ago as Lena became more entangled.

"No"

With a rush of his Battle Rage, Quillion grabbed Lena and slashed, cutting the wires and her harness in one swift motion. He let out a loud 'oof' as he made sure to cushion Lena's fall. Now he had taken away her ability to Blink, he was finally able to restrain and drag her to where his sketch book is.

_Stop_

"I need to get out! Let me go! Angie!" she yelled but when she turned her head, she almost vomited again as the strange spinning sensation became even more violent.

Immediately he laid her down to the ground and held her head in one position firmly, not letting go until she fully registers the words that he wrote in front of her.

_I am Quil  
Keep head still to stop spin  
Thumb up if you understand_

Very slowly, she raised a thumb.

_Deafness temporary_

He lifted his hand away from her when she regained control of herself, so much so he allowed her to move her head slightly as she tests how literally every hair of adjustment of the head results in an uncontrollable spin. To help her relax, he held her hand to give her an 'anchor' to hold onto as she turned to look at him properly.

"Quil? Is that really you?"

_Yes, like the ponytail?_

"No"

He laughed and sat back, taking the time to retie his hair in a somewhat elaborate fashion to keep things light for her.

"This is how it feels like for you? The dizziness?" she asked too loudly.

_Yes_

"Did you get used to it?"

_No. Rest. I'll let you know when we are near_

Around the corner, Lox smiled to see that Quillion does not seem to harbor any ill feelings for Lena even after she left him in Paris, especially after meeting him only once after months of… Whatever he was doing in Malaysia. If it were him, he would've been pissed off or something.

"Looks like she calmed down" Hana said.

"Yeah… Why's she here?" Lox asked quietly, indicating Amelie, whose face is unreadable as she looked at Quillion and Lena, her hand stroking a piece of object in her hands.

"Dunno… They came in together"

"Ahem… So… You're the Widowmaker right?" he asked.

"No. My name is Lacriox" she said, her eyes still at Lena, causing Lox to gulp.

"But we are no longer enemies right? All cool?"

Even when she nods her head, he was still very uncomfortable that her gaze did not shift in the slightest, like a predator that spotted her prey. Or something else…

"So… We will reach HQ in…" he continued, glancing at the timer that Athena had set up "3 hours if the wind is good… You want to sit down?"

* * *

*India: Shambali Temple of Suravasa*

Ever since Satya Vaswani rebuilt the Shambali Temple here, the locals have called the event Stone by Stone, a symbol of respectful merging between the old and the new, understanding and unity. This symbolic significance has attracted hundreds of pilgrims to visit, meditate, and reflect, seeking a peace that others could not provide.

However, it has also attracted the attention of tourists, many who are only curious to try out the food that the Shambali monks provide or are only interested to study the structure, as it was crafted by a world-renown Hard Light Architect.

Today another fleet of busses have entered its vicinity and hundreds stepped out and the first thing that greeted them were the Omnic Monks who were waiting with food. Its original purpose was to grant it to those who need it, but they never denied it to those who want it.

"Gotta say, these ain't too bad" Baptiste commented, biting into a pita bread stuffed with curry.

"When did you become such a glutton?" Sombra sighed.

"Give me a break! I've been living off grass when Talon was around, now that they're gone, time to live a little!"

Climbing the stairs with the crowd, their eyes checked the areas for guards and were relieved to see that there were none, therefore an escape will be quite easy. At the top of the stairs, the crowd is being divided into two lines, one for the pilgrims and the other for the tour.

"At least others are wearing your colour" Baptiste laughed quietly, spotting a group with multi colored hair, one with a similar style to Sombra's.

Rolling her eyes, she joined with the rest of the pilgrims and accepted the plain clothes that the monks were handing out and threw them on, whilst Baptiste joined the tour, who will walk alongside the pilgrims, but will be a floor above them.

The purpose for two pathways is to give the pilgrims their space while allowing the non-believers a chance to study how this faith operates. Either way, Sombra was annoyed at how many people still follow this cult, but comforted herself with the knowledge that soon she will expose this fraudulent organization to free her people from oppression.

All she needs is this last key piece of information.

Despite that, she grudgingly admits that the Pilgrim Path is somewhat peaceful. Despite hundreds of people, it was relatively quiet and their hoods emit a sense of unity. The path was fully lit by thousands of candles, illuminating the walls with a soft, steady glow, allowing the meditation of the various paintings of Omnics and Humans joining efforts to rebuild the world.

The walls were so convincing that Sombra stopped to test them. With a flick of her finger, the painting changed slightly, confirming her suspicions and respect for Satya Vaswani. The stone walls, candles, paintings, are all Hard Light material, and must be controlled locally somewhere further down this hallway.

Further down the path, she noticed that people began bowing their heads as a faint chanting can be heard. Deducing that she is getting closer to some holy site or the centre of the temple, she was about to follow suit when a monk stood in front of her.

"Are you lost my child?" it asked.

She looked up and saw that this was one of the older models, almost pre-Omnic Crisis. It is a head taller than her and has adopted the classical Shambali attire. Meditation beads revolved around its back in a slow and methodical pattern, its palms were joined together in front of its chest, and white robes that reached all the way down to the ground.

"Yes, I came to seek guidance" she lied, trying to sound like a humble pilgrim.

"There is no need to fear, all are accepted here within the presence of the Iris" it chuckled and motion for her to follow "However, this path is only for pilgrims, the tour line is over here"

"I can make my own way, just tell me where to go" she said, her fingers waving under her robes, inserting commands into the Omnic.

"Indeed, please follow me" it replied kindly and started moving to one of the many staircases that connected both the Pilgrim and Tourist paths.

"Huh? I said you can just tell me" she asked, hiding her confusion as she tried hacking it again, this time with a stronger code.

"My compliments, your codes are formidable, however there is no need for that"

"This is not possible" she thought, trying another string of code "How could this old model have this kind of firewall?"

"Please, follow me" the monk said again and held out a hand in an attempt to show forgiveness, which she interpreted as an attack and accidentally tripped over her robes in an effort to back away.

A loud clattering sound came from the stairs, attracting the monk's attention. Looking at the source of the noise, she deduced that Baptiste threw himself down the stairs to give her a chance to escape.

"Are you alright?" the monk asked with genuine concern, not knowing that Sombra had taken off her robe and turned invisible.

"Yeah… Just tripped, sorry about this everybody" she heard Baptiste say.

Dashing through the gaps between people, Sombra pushed down the rising panic that is growing within her. How could these monks resist her hacks? Who or what had supplied them with such powerful systems that even she could not penetrate?

Jumping down a flight of stairs, her shoes echoing loudly and confused everyone who heard it, but she did not stop until she saw another Omnic Monk. This time she used both hands and looked at the holoscreen to make sure that she did not make a mistake.

"What…?" she thought to herself, horrified at what she saw as the Omnic began looking around curiously as its sensors were alerting it of a hack.

Showing up on the screen, the Omnic's software were guided by a string of commands and patterns that she had never seen before. Deep into the system, she quickly realized that almost alien like symbols were the root cause of it, and only after it meshes together does it translate into 0s and 1s.

Cursing, she disconnected from the monk and kept running. She must at least take a screenshot of what they came for before any alarms can be raised. Following the chanting, she skidded down another flight of stairs by the handrails and saw it.

The Statue of Aurora.

* * *

*Outside the Temple*

Two brothers stepped out of the car, their eyes staring at the temple excitedly and accepting all who offered them refreshments. They have dreamt about this moment for weeks and to finally be here is a heaven-sent opportunity, as the temple was also almost entirely constructed by Hard Light technology, therefore any repercussions will be less severe.

Pulling out a book, they once again look at the reward that was offered to them for her capture, a sum that would not only pay off their debts, but their entire family's, and even so they will have enough to feed their children. Finally they can put an end to their many years of invaluable, but silent service from the government and focus on building their children's future.

Popping in a couple of pills, they steadied themselves for the task at hand, flipping the page to study the only known picture of the one who calls herself Sombra, an old photograph that has been shown by a terrorist who attacked London a few months ago.

Knowing what their target is capable of, they spared no expense for non-electronic/Hard Light gear. Bullet proof vests, knives, clubs, pistols, chloroform handkerchiefs, and even a stun grenade. After a brief buddy check, they nod to each other and climb the stairs.

* * *

*India: Shambali Temple of Suravasa*

Baptiste climbed back to the tour line and walked on, his mind buzzing with concern at Sombra's weird reactions. He hypothesized that, as unlikely as it is, either her fingernails were malfunctioning, made a mistake, or run out of power since the last EMP bomb. He tried to find a place to contact her but it proved exceedingly difficult, as the bathrooms that he came across were either full or occupied, and there were not many corners or pillars to hide behind.

All he could hope is that she either gives the signal or they would rendezvous outside near the busses. Problem was, they have not set a time for either scenario, all he could hope for is he will be able to guess their next course of action based purely on the last few months of going on missions with her.

After reaching the last platform, he looked down and could not help but be in awe at the beautifully crafted statue of Aurora herself. Listening to the tour guides, he was impressed at the idea that a single Omnic was able to achieve sentience all by itself, but was also disappointed that the knowledge of where she came from or who her original manufacturer was lost in history.

The platform formed a full 360 degree ring around the statue so that everyone will be able to appreciate its beauty from every angle, and as expected, everyone was only focused on the front. He, however, moved to the back and sighed in relief when he looked down.

After the troop of monks walked past, Sombra reappeared in a shimmer, hanging off one of the orbs that levitated behind the statue, her fingers working quickly. Seeing that this may take some time, he leaned against the railing and waited, trying his best to look natural so no one would be interested to go over to him.

He was studying the crowd and allowed himself to relax. This has got to be the easiest mission he had since he decided to help her. Normally he had to do the heavy lifting or read so much material that it matched his studies in medical school. Finally, after months of hard work, all he needs to do now is just to be a lookout due to his 'lack of the required skills'. Furthermore, he does not need to constantly look over his shoulder for any highly trained killers with the latest technology coming after him, or fear the whirling noise of a gauntlet charging, only annoying, ambitious groups who were all amateurs in comparison that he needs to watch out for.

Speaking of which, he spotted two men down at the pilgrim line who were acting suspicious. Though they wore the pilgrim robes perfectly, it was their posture that caught his attention. Whilst everyone else were hunched over in humbleness and meditation, these men are obviously stiff and their eyes were darting over to the darker corners of the room.

Dropping a coin down, Sombra looked up to see Baptiste nodding off to the side and a fist protruding two fingers. Cursing, she began taking risks in the hacks to find the source code faster. At first it looked like a regular Hard Light language, however, since the monks have a completely different code, surely they would source it from the statue. After the third error, she punched the statue in frustration and, to her horror and everybody else's surprise, a hollow gong resounded from it.

Immediately the pilgrims looked up at the statue and some took off their hoods in awe. That was when the men spotted the woman with the similar hairstyle to Sombra's and immediately pounced on her. Baptiste watched helplessly when the crowd began screaming as the girl went rigid and a sack was thrown over her head.

Curious, Sombra stuck her head out again at the commotion and was pleased to find that all the monks are now making their way towards the source of the noise, buying her more time.

At least, that's what she thought.

"We have to help her!" Baptiste said, jumping down from the ledge.

"What are you doing? Get back up there and watch my back!" she hissed.

"We can't just let them take her!"

"It'll be fine alright? The monks will take care of it"

He looked and saw that the men were now pointing weapons at the nearest monk, who had its hands up and backing off as it tried to negotiate with them.

"They can't! We need to do something!"

"Shh! Just wait for a minute okay? I almost got this" she said, twisting what looks like a virtual valve.

A gunshot echoed in the room and Baptiste could not restrain himself anymore.

"Oh forget this" he said.

"Bap!"

Initiating his Exo Boots, Baptiste launched himself into the air towards the would be captors. A gunshot rang out and the crowd ran for the exits, the monks formed a literal wall of metal to protect as many people as they could as Baptiste tackled the one holding the girl.

As the fight escalated, so did Sombra's efforts to hack into the mainframe of the statue, using riskier and riskier hacks in desperation, but it was difficult she was almost deafened by the huge bang of what sounds like a flash grenade.

"Why did he have to go and be a hero?" she thought bitterly.

Trying again after her very first five-in-a-row failed hack, she utilized one of her most complicated programs and after multiple keystrokes, she finally cracked it open.

"Yes!"

However, her victory was cut short as the image of The Iris appeared, staring at her.

"Hello Olivia Colomar, I've finally found you"

She froze in fear as hundreds of questions shot through her mind. The Conspiracy? Here? Was the suitcase a trap all along? Why The Conspiracy using the voice of a woman? How does it know where to find her?

"Our offer still stands Olivia Colomar, you and Jean-Baptiste Augustine can still join us, we are all one within The Iris"

"Shut it Conspiracy, you're nothing more than a system to be taken down" she snarled, taking screenshots of every new page that she unlocks, regardless of its importance.

"And how do you plan to do that?" IT asked and when Sombra did not answer, IT chuckled "Very well, you have always preferred your method, let me respond in kind"

Before she could fully register what The Conspiracy meant, her left hand was magnetically jammed into the statue.

"Let me go!" she yelled, trying to pull herself free but her fingers are firmly locked in place.

Sombra could feel all her firewalls being torn down one by one, all her files becoming exposed. She tried to teleport away but her systems are no longer responding.

"I commend you Olivia, you truly deserve your reputation as the master of digital languages, I doubt anyone on Earth would be able to go through the first wall"

She pulled out her machine pistol and attempted to break her fingernails with it, but itself was jammed onto the statue when she tried to hit them.

"Do not worry, once I… Ahh… You know where we are… But you don't know what to do about it do you? Unless… Oh goodness… So this is why you thought you have a chance against us"

"Like you said… Master of digital languages'' Sombra panted, tugging at her hand again, hating that her upgrades have engraved the hardware into her bones.

"This is your last chance Olivia, join us and together we will accomplish great things"

"Nah, that's too easy, I prefer a challenge" she replied, putting up a brave face against her sworn enemy.

"Then allow me to make it more challenging for you"

A loud hum sounded and a blood guttural scream came from behind the statue, forcing Baptiste to abandon the fight. Kicking the man into his partner, he ran around the corner and was shocked to see Sombra rolling on the ground, howling in pain as she clutched her left hand.

He quickly dropped down to his knees to help, but not before his eyes followed the trail of blood that led to the statue, where what looked like fingers with purple polish were stuck on it.

* * *

Hey all, hope everyone is doing fine so far

Just a little update for the uploading schedule, my workload had starting to kick up again so the posting may become slower in the following weeks, I'll definitely update as time goes on.

Thanks for reading and I'll see ya in the next one :)

PS. Thanks for the reviews, always great to read them :D


	4. Chapter 4

*Gibraltar: Overwatch (Night)*

Brigitte searched all over the base and couldn't find Reinhardt. none of the passersby she asked could give her a clear answer either, some said they saw him training in the Engineering Room while others said he was telling one of his stories in the Mess Hall, but he was nowhere to be found, which was strange. Normally he would be a lot easier to find, his almost unquenchable need to 'keep the morale high' being his key routine outside of fights.

Looking out the window, she was surprised to see how dark it was. The past few hours in the meeting room was one of the most challenging parts of being stationed in the base and she was proud that this time she remained focused throughout the whole thing, even if it has nothing to do with her.

Thinking that he must be taking a nap or something, she decided to go onto the deck to enjoy the night breeze to blow away all the stagnation of the meeting. To her confusion, there was a larger crowd than usual looking at something down in the ocean, all chanting the same name.

"Reinhardt! Reinhardt! Reinhardt!"

"What's going on?" she asked the closest engineer.

"Reinhardt just challenged the best swimmer to a race"

"He what?!"

Forcing herself through and up the flight of stairs that leads up to the roof (and also overlooks the ocean), she looked down and saw two men swimming against the tide towards the closest buoy where another group of men were guiding them with lights. Even from here she could see the one in the lead is Reinhardt, his white mane reflecting off the lights in the dark waters. Looking around, she strained her neck until she saw the ringleader.

"20 Euro against Reinhardt!" she yelled, handing over the money.

*30 minutes later*

"Better luck next time!"

"Yeah it's hard to beat the best!"

"Don't listen to them, you did great" Brigitte said, passing a towel to Reinhardt who was leaning on the wall, gasping to catch his breath.

"The tide is stronger... On my side... He had no current to fight against" he panted.

"Yup, I suppose it was" she lied, remembering the exact opposite of what he said and made sure the money is well hidden in her pocket.

Groaning, Reinhardt sat down on a crate and hid a sigh when he looked down at his body. Before he would proudly walk around the hangar without his shirt on, showing off his body to whoever would be interested as he gets a tan. Now… Though he was still more muscular than most bodybuilders, he has recently, and grudgingly, began to accept that he is getting old.

His bones are sore and his muscles ache endlessly. He had noticed that in fights, he would be the first few to tire quickly and in situations where he would normally thrive in, he found himself throwing in an un-ignorable amount of effort to get himself out. Worst still was that he used to attack while holding back to conserve energy throughout battles, now he is giving it his all only to maintain the same amount of damage that he normally dishes out.

What he would not give to experience another Nano Boost…

"So… Do you want to know what they talked about in the meeting?" Brigitte asked.

"No, since it will only concern the eggheads"

"How would you know?"

"Experience" he laughed and patted Brigitte in the back, making her stumble slightly.

Annoyed that she had to sit through the meeting, she kept quiet, listening to the waves below them until he caught back his breath before trying again.

"Ya know, it wouldn't hurt to know about it a little bit"

"Fine… Let's hear it"

As he expected, there was nothing that the Crusaders can contribute as everything is study, study, and more study. The only thing he did not know was that Overwatch was tasked to act as some security for some worldwide peace event that the Sambali Omnics are holding again to 'mend wounds', which was a puzzling thing that Jack would even agree to be involved with this, then he remembered that they are part of the UN now, and they're calling the shots.

"They should order us to bring the ink too since this only involves a pen" he laughed.

"The UN don't want another King's Row incident... And something about 'having heroes in the picture symbolizes peace'" Brigitte summarized.

"Why the Shambali again? Why won't the Omnics make peace with another group?"

"Because the Shambali were the closest one to achieve peace last time" she replied and thought for a moment before continuing "And by the sound of it, the UN is too busy to do the heavy lifting so they chose to use an old template"

Her words made Reinhardt laugh.

"But I don't like that they're going to have it in King's Row... I mean... It's too soon for that right? If anything goes wrong, it'll be bad... I mean really bad" she continued, finally able to speak out her mind since the meeting "Mondatta's death... The Uprising... Why do they want to do it there again? Do they really think it'll work to declare peace in the most sensitive part of the city? If it fails people are going to get hurt..."

"And this is why the Crusader Order exists! We give our lives to protect the innocent and the peace!" he shouted, standing up so suddenly that it made a couple of Engineers jump as they were walking by.

"Don't you ever shut up ya big oaf?" Torbjorn shouted back as he walked towards them.

"For someone so small you got a big mouth!"

"Papa? What are you doing here?"

"They brought some of the pieces from France, we are needed in one of the labs"

"Oh… Can't one of the other staff members do it?"

"Ya kidding? None of them are touching my stuff!"

"But papa-"

"Just go Brigitte, remember, we live with honor!" Reinhardt interjected, giving her a slight push.

"Yeah yeah…" she sighed.

When she was out of earshot, Reinhardt sat back down, his knees still wobbling from the swim, an wobbles that Torbjorn noticed.

"You should take a vacation. A long one" he said.

"What are you talking about? It's just been a long time since I last swam, that's all"

Torbjorn said nothing and merely looked up at Reinhardt, secretly annoyed that even when seated, Reinhardt was still, at least, a head taller than him. It has been a while since he looked at his friend carefully and was surprised to see all the wrinkles that he hid behind his beard, how his blonde hair is now pearly white.

"You expecting a kiss?" Reinhardt asked, annoyed at Torbjorn's uncharacteristic staring.

"You're old" Torbjorn blurted out before he could stop himself.

"And you're creepy, go!" Reinhardt laughed, slapping him on the back so hard that he almost fell "Didn't you say the lab needs you?"

Before Torbjorn could reply, a squad of soldiers ran into the area and each have their eyes up at the sky. Both of them watched them and guessed it was a drill or something when one of them pointed at three glowing lights in the night sky coming at them. Curious, Reinhardt walked to the closest one and grabbed the binoculars away from her, who had to hold her tongue when she saw who it was.

Even though Reinhardt has little to no knowledge of what goes on in the hangar, he was still one of Overwatch's regular agents and he had memorized not only theirs, but the common transportations of other countries as well, making the sight mildly interesting.

"Whaddaya see?" Torbjorn asked.

"Two of our drones and a big plane that I've never seen before..."

"Let me see!"

"Find your own pair"

"What's going on?" Torbjorn asked the soldier.

"An unidentified aircraft came into our airspace, we are escorting it to land here" she said.

"Any response?"

"Only that it dipped its wings"

"And we are bringing them here? That shuttle looks a bit big" Reinhardt commented.

"We can handle them" she said confidently.

He doubted her words and from the look that Torbjorn is giving, it was obvious that he is in the same mind: these soldiers are greenhorns and their positioning screamed it out. If that shuttle carries something dangerous, it'll take more than just 12 of them to contain the situation.

However, he shrugged it off as an unnecessary caution, they are Overwatch! Even if they were still at war, no one would send a single shuttle to attack them. Heck, even the Null Sector wouldn't waste resources like that. At most this was some ambitious smuggler caught in the act, which were fairly common since the black market was said to be thriving now in peacetime mainly due to the collection of Null Sector parts.

Both of them were about to leave it to the soldiers when the lights in the hangar were turned off suddenly, throwing the whole area into darkness. Everyone's eyes were still adjusting to the sudden darkness when their surroundings were illuminated again by the drones crashing into the sea, the explosions prompting them into action.

"Everyone prepare yourselves! We're under attack!" one of the soldiers shouted when he saw that the shuttle the drones were escorting was still flying towards them.

"EMP" Torbjorn said, pulling out his Rivet Gun.

"Oh really? Sorry I wouldn't have guessed" Reinhardt said sarcastically.

"Just go grab your stuff, we'll hold them off here"

After Reinhardt ran into the base, Torbjorn shouted at some soldiers to relocate their positions as the shuttle landed, hoping to keep them alive as long as possible until reinforcements arrives. The EMP has knocked out all the automatic turrets in the area so they're on their own. Whatever or whoever is inside, it contains military hardware that obviously is above the paychecks of the soldiers around him.

"Alright, we have you sur-" a soldier shouted, stopping when Torbjorn knocked his head with a hammer.

"Expose us again, Imma kill ya myself" he growled.

"We have you surrounded! Come out with your hands up!" another shouted from the other side of the hangar.

"Are you all idiots?!" Torbjorn roared, unable to contain his fiery temper.

Before anyone could answer, the whole place lit up as the gunmen inside the shuttle opened fire, shredding and tearing its way through even reinforced walls.

"Armor piercing! Get down!"

But the warning was too late as bodies fell from their positions as rounds tore through them. Torbjorn peeked around the corner and saw that any attempts to counter attack was ineffective, as their bullets merely bounced off the hull of the shuttle and flashbangs were not working. He wanted to shout out a retreat but everyone was pinned down. He watched in horror as one tried to run but was mercilessly gunned down, their only hope to escape now is to force in an effective attack.

Using his height to his advantage, he sprinted through some crates unseen, using his hammer to break them open and throwing as much scrap as he could throw into his claw. From the sound of the shouting and gunfire, he could discern that only half the squad is left.

Thankfully his claw is proudly Torbjorn made and it came alive instantly, glowing hot and red. Flanking around, he pointed his claw at the shuttle and hoped that there were no humans inside.

_Molten Core!_

Streams of lava spewed onto the shuttle and seeped into the slits, stopping the attack immediately as the guns withdrew themselves back in. He kept up the attack until he was right in front of it, making sure that he covered as much area as possible until his claw could only spit out droplets.

"That should hold 'em" he said and was about to turn back to find survivors when the doors threw themselves open in a loud bang behind him.

Before he could even turn around, he was sent flying into crates and disappeared into a billow of dust.

"Master Engineer!" one of the soldiers shouted as she made a move to run to him but was gunned down by the renewed gunfire.

Rolling on threads and with twin guns on each side of its body, droids rolled out of the shuttle, followed closely by a handful humans who were using it as cover. Within the minute, the hangar is cleared.

"Their reinforcements are on the way" one said hastily, setting up defensive positions. They had already lost four droids from the lava, now it's only five of them plus two more droids up against the entire force of Overwatch, which would mean they could only buy so much time.

"I will proceed to the objective" another said.

"Very well. Go in peace brother. For the Iris"

"For the Iris" they echoed as the sound of thundering footsteps grew louder.

* * *

*HLC: Unknown*

"They have successfully secured a beachhead in the hangar"

They cheered in a series of whoops and hoots, cheering on as their cultists began setting up their position, some voicing out in anger that only two of the droids they supplied survived the initial landing. However, for the rest, it did not matter as the main human has already infiltrated the base and is sprinting towards the objective.

"Here comes the reinforcements"

They watched as a large man carrying a blue shield appeared and led the charge, followed closely by a crowd of soldiers that used him as cover or breaking off to flank. What was most surprising to them was when the barrier broke, a bright light pierce through the darkness and golden beams connected themselves to various targets as a woman flew across the skies.

"Those humans are definitely above the average statistics, I can see now how Talon was defeated by them" one observed, flicking through his papers.

"How far is the runner to the server room?"

"He has already left"

"And the virus?"

"It failed to penetrate their systems, the so called 'Athena' is more formidable than we thought"

The room was filled with groans until the largest one threw a fist into the air, silencing them.

"Mother has already suspected this would happen, you only need to focus on the primary objective"

Some grumbled in silence at the favorite son of Mother, but in this hierarchy, they have little to no say. They only hope that as they continue to excel where they are assigned, they will earn the same recognition with Mother as she had with this doofus.

Impatiently, they watched as the infiltrator penetrated deeper into the mountain, his signal became three to five second delays, an eternity from what they were used to. What they also did not anticipate was how complicated the infrastructure of the base is, having been assured by their network that it was a simple construct that only covers the surface of the mountain. Having so many layers in merely a few months is both impressive and concerning.

Despite these challenges, their investment is bringing in dividends as he expertly made his way closer to the target. His colleagues in the hangar was also buying more time than anticipated, that is until the so called Super Soldier Jack Morrison entered the fray.

"He must be the one Mother talked about" one of them commented, trying not to be sound too impressed by the Soldier's quick reflexes and accurate shots.

"H-How did he do that? He is so small!" another wondered, watching with her mouth agape when he used his own Helix Rockets to jump over something particularly high.

"Quiet!" the favorite son shouted, silencing the room.

* * *

*Overwatch: Gibraltar*

"These are above military standards, who sent you?" Morrison said, standing over the last surviving, fatally injured invader, who had been impaled by a piece of the drone when it exploded.

"The Iris watches and we will be one within the Iris…" the man prayed until a sharp pain rocked through his person.

"The man asked you a question" Reinhardt snarled, using his hammer to tap the metal.

"Reinhardt, stand down" Morrison ordered firmly, glancing around to check if anyone is watching.

"Why? He attacked us! Torbjorn's almost dead because of them!"

"Keep your voice down! We are UN now, we have to be more deliberate with our actions"

"What then? Do we ask him nicely?" Reinhardt countered sarcastically.

"We are not fighting Talon or the Null Sector anymore, there are rules now"

"Then how do we get information out of him?" Reinhardt asked, looking down at the man who resumed his prayers and his features weakening with every second.

"I've already called the medic"

The words barely left his mouth when the medic team jumped in and tried to administer stabilizers, but it was too late as the man gasped his last breath.

"Great, what do we do now?"

"Commander! One of them has infiltrated the base!" Athena shouted.

"Deploy some men after him, we have to stay here'

"But-"

"Hurry, the second wave is coming" Morrison said, preparing his weapon and rallied the men when another shuttle loomed into view.

* * *

*India: Safehouse*

The door flung open and Baptiste threw the barely conscious Sombra onto the bed, blood still leaking out of where her fingers used to be. Pulling his luggage over, he opened the lid and dug out multiple Biotic Grenades and exploded them next to the bed, ensuring that she would consume as much healing as possible. Placing the Immortality Field on the table in case he needs it, he busied himself to stop the bleeding after a quick sedation, trying not to be too distracted by the fact that despite her fingers showed signs of having been torn off, it was scarily even as nothing below the knuckle was missing.

Once that was done, he proceeded to clean and check it for any infection, causing her to groan in pain. Finally, he began stitching while ignoring the hate that he will now take part to further ruin this once beautiful hand. Plenty a time she asked for more drugs to numb the pain, but all he could offer her was strong alcohol, fearing that her body would go into shock.

After a few hours, he had done all he could and he flopped down on a nearby chair. They are not out of the woods yet, her injuries can still be fatal and requires careful monitoring until her own body can handle this injury.

"Bap?" she croaked.

"Right here" he said, hiding his exhaustion and smiling.

"Did you save them?"

"Ahh… I'm so sorry Sombra... I tried to take them but I can't get them off the statue"

"The girl" she clarified, trying to sit up but was too weak "Did you save the girl?"

"Oh! Yes, they chased us until we were out of the temple and I lost them in the crowd, so she should be fine"

"That's good… That's good… You and your stupid heroics…" she mumbled, lying back down.

"Rest" he said, hoping to keep her mind off the injuries for now.

"This is all your fault… You know that right?" she groaned.

He allowed that comment and kept his silence, knowing that drugged out patients will usually say anything and everything that comes into their mind. For now he must ensure that she survives long enough for him to be mad about her words later.

By his estimations, she should be like this for a week due to the amount of blood she lost. Normally he would go and break into a hospital or something and grab a few bags, but in a city where all the walls are made of Hard Light, he highly doubts that he would succeed. It was in these times that he hated that his blood type is AB-, forcing him to feel helpless when someone desperately needed blood.

Lights from a car passing pierced through the small cracks in the curtain pulled him out of his brief daydream. Peeking out, he saw the car was occupied by a family, and he placed his rifle back down. Even if the walls and doors are Hard Light, he is not going to take any chances. From how they fought, those guys were experienced and deadly, which means they would know how to enter these sorts of constructs if they attacked them here.

As was his habit and to counter this, he began putting up extremely old fashion defensive measures.

Their safehouse is an old hotel in a quiet town next Utopaea, boasting that it kept an 'older style' of living despite the upgrades. Thankfully Sombra had booked the room for an entire month so he does not have to deal with that. Naturally this place would have modern security alarms and cameras, but over the years, Baptiste had found out a better way of defending himself.

Glasses of cold water on the doors, tacks and homemade mouse traps under the window, and finally the fridge against the main door. Though childish, it had worked surprisingly well against more mature veterans, who would never dream that someone would use ancient, almost forgotten practical jokes as the first line of defense.

Satisfied, he sat back down on the sofa again, exhausted.

Though he wanted to sleep, he found himself tossing and turning endlessly on it, unable to keep his mind at rest. Cursing, he retrieved Sombra's Multi Purpose Device from the bag, a fantastic little device that she created to keep track of every piece of media in the world, summarizing it to an easy to read piece with probabilities of its impact to the world, amongst other things.

Flipping through the pages, he saw that it is already updated with the EMP attack at the Community Centre and the Shambali Temple just hours ago, some Peace Treaty event next month, the UN rebuilding its peacekeeping efforts, Katya Volskaya demilitarizing its products, some things happening in China regarding the world economy, a video of a smoking ruin with the words 'Chateau Guillard' on it, and finally…

"What?" he said out loud in surprise, sitting up.

He blinked again and refreshed the page again, checking if it was some kind of glitch in the system, but no matter what he does, the summary is clear as day.

"If you don't read it out, I'm going to have to stand up" Sombra said weakly, looking at him.

Knowing that she is serious, he turned the screen towards her.

"Unknown attacked Overwatch" he read.

"No… That's too soon..." she said, trying to sit up, but couldn't.

"Hey hey calm down"

"This means they planned this months before today… They're 20 steps ahead of me now…"

"Stay down, you can't move now" he said, pushing her firmly back onto the bed.

"There's no time! The Conspiracy is already-ARGH!"

She recoiled when she tried to push his arm away with her bandaged hand, which he quickly tied down on the side of the bed to keep it safe from harm.

"Stop moving" he ordered "You're in no position to go anywhere"

Either it was his words or another wave of exhaustion, Sombra calmed down. Breathing hard, she formulated her thoughts before speaking again.

"We don't have much time, how soon can you get me moving?"

"In my professional opinion… Seven days"

"And in the opinion of a rogue criminal?"

He sighed heavily before answering.

"At least 3 days"

"No good, we need to get to the airport tomorrow, we-"

She paused when she looked down at her bandaged hand, realization slowly began to sink into her soul. Throughout her life, she prided herself to be able to escape many situations and keeping her body wholly intact whilst others lost limbs. She had fought and survived against some of the most dangerous foes the world has to offer and beaten them all whole.

Until now.

Within just a few seconds of meeting with The Conspiracy face to face, it had not only insulted her by hacking past and deep into her hardware, but it had damaged her of her most precious weapon…

"Sombra?"

"You're right… We should lay low for now" she said.

"Excuse me? Did you just say I'm right?" he asked, but she has fallen back to sleep.

After checking her bandages once more, he continued reading the reports of the News Tracker, oblivious to the fact that Sombra is fighting back tears as she massaged her now fingerless hand.

* * *

*Gibraltar: Overwatch*

He must admit, he had fantasized what would it be like for him to return. He thought that because of his efforts, he would be welcomed as the secret hero who saved Venice that only Overwatch would be privy to, since he was the one who stopped Sigma's rampage. Perhaps even a hidden ceremony where Morrison would give him a medal which he could boast about to Amelie. Heck, maybe he could even earn a tiny spot in the Hall of Heroes, nothing fancy, just a small space to immortalize his name that his family would be proud of, wherever they are.

What he never would've expected, was to see fire on the hangar and the terrible smell of gunpowder. He thought to charge out and assist in whatever battle that could still be going on, but the sight of Reinhardt's barrier and Angela's blue beam were clear signs that the battle was over, but must not be too long ago.

"Alright, I'm coming out now alright?" Quillion said, peeking his head slowly out of the door and at the many guns pointed at them.

"Why have you come back?" Morrison's voice sounded from behind the barrier.

"We're all looking for answers. And we need to get Lena to the Medical Bay!"

Morrison looked at the shuttle and studied the burn marks at the rear. He had just skimmed through Athena's report and everything checked out, however, it seems too convenient that they came right after an attack. From his previous experience with Quillion, the thought that he is an accomplice is highly unlikely, but he had been wrong before and today is not the day for chance.

"Commander?"

"You stay in there until we get you"

"But Lena needs medical attention now!"

"Nobody moves until we catch the infiltrator!" Morrison shouted.

Deep within the mountain, the said infiltrator has finally found clear signs to his objective. Stealing a lab coat and a pair of spectacles, he was able to follow a team of scientists who were just cleared to return to their workstations. Normally this tactic would be near impossible to pull off, but since everyone here is new, it was easy to blend in. Keeping his head down away from the cameras, he stayed close to them and looked into as many rooms as he could.

It was not long before he found what he was looking for, thanks to the fact that all of Overwatch's most famous scientists were studying it. Problem was, all of Overwatch's most famous scientists were either battle hardened veterans or recognized heroes. Winston, Brigitte and Mei were huddled around the table and are already poking at the pieces of rocks in a tray.

He must act quickly before they discover its secrets. Reciting a prayer, he took a deep breath and entered the room, which barely caught the attention of anyone in there. Fingering the chemicals he hid in his jacket, he needs to make sure that at least more than half of the content is poured into the tray to ensure their destruction.

However, the Iris has provided as there is a Bunsen Burner at the corner of the room, a box of matches next to it.

"Alright, we are ready for the first trial, ready?" Winston asked.

"Yes" Mei and Brigitte said in unison, holding on to their tools.

"Remember, we don't have much samples so we need to be careful"

"FIRE! HELP FIRE!"

The room scattered when one of the scientists threw herself at them, her arms waving wildly in attempts to put out the fire that is burning up her jacket. Mei quickly pulled out her weapon and sprayed a mist of cold ice to put it out while the other two checked if anyone else was injured, none of them saw the one scientist running over to the table and pouring strange liquid all over the rocks.

"Winston! He is the infiltrator!" Athena shouted through the speaker.

In a flash, Winston grabbed the man by the scruff of his coat and threw him across the room while Brigitte ran over to the tray to check on the rocks, only to step back in shock. The chemical had not only melted all the rocks, but it ate through the metal tray and table beneath it.

"What is this?" she gasped.

"Who sent you?" Winston growled.

The man merely smiled before convulsing, his heart stopping when he swallowed the poison hidden in his teeth.


	5. Chapter 5

*Gibraltar: Overwatch*

Three days passed like a blur and Gibraltar was bombarded by almost everyone who mattered in the UN. Despite Gabrielle Adawe's efforts, waves of auditors, sanctioned investigators, insurance company representatives, and for goodness sake, even some bankers showed up to question them about things they would've never even considered Mountains of meaningless paperwork, procedures and investigations had been conducted, all in the name to avoid as much financial or public relations support as legally possible. The hours that had been wasted only to go through an almost endless seam of checklists and maddeningly slow processes, destroyed all hopes and efforts to uncover the identities of their enemies or even to send the bodies back to their families for burial.

None, however, was more frustrated than Angela Ziegler, who finally had enough.

"Do you understand what we do here? We are doctors not magicians!" she shouted at a group of cowering auditors.

"We-we're just saying that with your… Expertise, many more could've been saved and-"

"GET OUT OF MY OFFICE!" she screeched, all patience vanished in an instant "AND IF YOU DARE TO WITHHOLD PAYMENT TO THEIR FAMILIES, I WILL PERSONALLY COME AND LOOK FOR YOU!"

"I think I'm hearing something" Lena said, still too loudly.

_That's good, treatment working_

"Did Angie say how long I'll be in here?"

_A week_

"Is she here? Can I see her?"

Brigitte turned around, just in time to see Angela shoving the last auditor out of the room before slamming the door behind them, and shook her head.

_She's occupied_

Lena nodded and felt herself sigh, which is a strange and terrible feeling, to only feel herself sigh, or do anything really, and is unable to hear it. At the very least, she was thankful that her vertigo was cured the moment she was submitted into the ward, later learning that this speedy treatment was because Quillion had been around long enough for the Medical Centre to have a surplus of advanced medication to treat it.

Speaking of advanced medicine, she was surprised to see that the base has expanded dramatically since she left. Many new faces, floors, and departments, the place no longer feels like the home where she could find comfort and safety after missions, now it is a giant, well oiled, but cold machine, reminding her of what it once was just before it collapsed…

An example of this was that now she is in one of the new ICUs instead of the large, multi-bed room from before where patients can see and encourage one another through thick and thin. Though this was definitely an upgrade, it was too lonely for Lena, as new regulations only allow up to two visitors at any one time, unlike before when everyone can come and go as they please.

"Where's Winston and the others?" she asked.

_Stuck in a meeting with UN investigators_

"Oh ok… How's your dad?"

_He is still sleeping_

"Any idea who attacked us?"

_No_

Stumped, Lena leaned back and tried to focus on the magazine that Brigitte brought for her but she barely read the first sentence of the page she had been staring at for the past half and hour. So many questions buzzed through her mind but no one is able to give any answers.

"What's going on? No one attacked Overwatch when it was weak... Now at the height of its power, someone sent a missile after my shuttle and even sent a force to attack the base" she thought to herself.

_Lena, sorry I need to go_

"No worries luv, take care"

Brigitte nodded and squeezed Lena's shoulder before exiting the room.

Still slightly dizzy from the medications, Lena put the magazine aside and got out of bed to leaned against the fake window, playing with the buttons to change the scenery that is being live streamed around the mountain, already missing the freedom that she had enjoyed over the months with Lox and Hana, and wondered if they felt the same.

From what Brigitte wrote out to her, Lox is facing some disciplinary action but was assured that it was not severe, as Morrison (to their surprise) was lenient to their joyride, and Hana's situation would've been hilarious if Lena could be by her side now since her presence has become almost a mystical thing here. About a day after the attack, the news spread like wildfire that even reached the city of Gibraltar itself.

Hana Song has arrived at Gibraltar: Overwatch.

At first Morrison and Smith tried to keep her presence a secret, but it was impossible when the guards that Smith assigned to watch over her began sending 'private pictures' with her signature back to their families, who in turn shared it throughout the Internet. Coast guards were arranged to dissuade anyone who even fantasizes about sailing to the mountain to see her, which thankfully, was not too common. Regardless, Morrison did not need to worry about her safety, as the guards are almost as loyal to her as they were to Smith, so he turned his attention to the Korean Army, who were demanding answers for why their best pilot, who had been sighted all over the world randomly, ended up with the UN's military. To make things more entertaining, a grateful Chief Minister called Overwatch to thank them for the sudden boost in Gibraltar's tourism income…

However, once the UN got involved, the mood immediately shifted. Unable to vent their wrath to avenge their comrades nor time to enjoy even recover from the shock, everyone has been on edge ever since.

"Bollocks… To be bogged down by all this nonsense when we could be looking for the ones who sent those buggers..." Lena thought.

She needs something to do, especially somewhere far away from here... It was still too soon for her to be back. She still had not found the answers she was looking for. How could she face her with the same words that Quil had with his loved ones? Reaching down to her bag next to the bed, she was disappointed to see that there was only one item she brought back for her...

The worst part was, there is nothing forcing her to see her today, she could always avoid going to see her, but she could not shake off the guilt building up inside her at the very thought. When has it been so hard to see her? She had always thought about her and they have always enjoyed each other's company even when there were nothing to talk about... Why should she fear being in her company now?

Feeling a tap on her shoulder, she looked around and saw Angela smiling at her while holding up a sign.

_Everything alright?_

This was the first time Lena saw Angie since they arrived and was a bit surprised to see her out of the 'Dragoon' armor, making a mental note to ask if she found a way to get out of it or Genji helped (perhaps maybe even she herself can try it on one day). The thing that stood out most however, were her eyes, shades of green can be seen at the edges of her blue irises now, the two colors complementing each other in a strange but beautiful way.

"Yeah…" Lena said, hugging her friend, needing the support for what she was about to say.

_Do you need anything?_

"Angie… I want to see her… Can I see her please? Now?"

Angela could feel her friend's need and fear in those words, so much so that her professional side told her that rest is what she needs now, not this, she could visit anytime after she recovers.

Lena felt her writing something and when she looked at the board, she smiled.

_Follow me_

* * *

*Overwatch: Data Storage*

A few levels lower at the other side of the base, and after settling in, Quillion and Amelie head to the Data Storage Room, which was thankfully empty as everyone had been called out to entertain the UN and their personnel.

"Anything?" he asked, looking at the article that she was reading.

"No"

"Athena, are you sure this is it?"

"All abbreviations and synonyms have been presented as on screen" was the reply, flashing the already filtered, hundred page collection with thousands of possible abbreviations and synonyms for HLC, each unlikelier than the last.

"We are not getting anywhere with this, it will be easier if we go look for it in the field" Amelie said, pushing the screen away in frustration.

"No. Beating down each crime boss is going to take too much time"

Even as the words came out of his mouth, it was filled with doubt. It may very well be true that they could narrow this list even further if they penetrate into the underworld's network instead of Overwatch's. However, as hypocritical as it may sound, he does not plan to be involved or to start another war, even if he had to kill the ones who attacked them.

"Corporal Quillion, if I may, there was a report that Lieutenant Oxton asked me to compile for you should you return" Athena asked.

"Hmm? She did? What is it about?" he asked in surprise.

"Yes, it is a report on the progress that the UN had with the reinstated country of Malaysia" Athena said, sending him the report on the screen with the command code for him to unlock it.

Quillion sat back, not knowing what to do. He would have lied if he said he had not thought about what the UN had done to his home, especially since the news or the Internet has been quiet about the whole ordeal. With the answer available to him now, he was not sure if it was anxiety or excitement that paralyzed his throat.

He must've pondered for a bit as Amelie's cold hand made him jump when she grabbed his.

"Read it, I will continue the search" she said.

Nodding slowly, he finally read the words on the screen.

_Malaysia Selamanya_

His jaw dropped when he saw what had transpired in his country. Though it looked like they were any progress made, he could tell by the foundations that there was great focus to reconstruct many of the designs that he was extremely familiar with, making him laugh when the report described this as an effort to 'reconstruct heritage sites'.

"You can build heritage sites?" he asked the AI, unable to believe that this contradictory concept is a reality now.

"It is still an extremely new practice" Athena responded.

He fought back tears when he saw many of the blueprints were impressively accurate to his memories, a beautiful blend between technology and nature. However, some were just outrageously ambitious, but he shrugged it off as some sort of 'modern standard' for buildings.

The pretender Agong's properties were all reclaimed and auctioned off, most of the income from that is used to help the villagers and reconstruction efforts. Flipping through some pages, he found the most important chapter of the entire report. It was a single page report, as if someone forced them to include this in and he was glad that it was included.

The Waterfall.

It has become a Natural Preserve, guaranteeing peace for everyone he had buried there. Unconsciously, he raked his fingers across the screen, allowing himself to feel the emotions of longing that he had left behind.

That was when he saw the flashing alarm on his wristband. It was an hour past the estimated event.

"Why didn't it make a sound?" he thought, horrified.

Immediately he snapped a look at Amelie, who was making her way out the door. With little time, he threw his arms around her.

"Release me!"

"Not until you remember who you are" he said.

"Let me go!"

"No"

Her anger flared and flung her head back, almost breaking his nose. Feeling his arms slack, she whipped around and speared his stomach with her knee. When he doubled over, she clasped her hands around his neck and pinned him to the ground.

Excitement coursed through her veins and she could feel a smile stretching across her face. She could feel it, his heart trying to pump blood into his head, his neck pulsating harder with every passing second, his lungs becoming desperate as he gasps for air.

It has been so long since a kill… So very long…

However, she must be out of practice when his arm escapes her foot and, to her frustration, manage to dig his fingers between her thumbs, giving him room to breathe.

"No!" she growled, trying to press down harder but found it impossible to remove his hand.

"You are Amelie Lacriox... Not Widowmaker…" he choked.

She threw her whole weight down at his neck, trying to ignore the rising panic inside her as the need for this pleasure is dissipating, but his strength is too great.

"You don't… Need this"

Desperate, she looked around for a weapon, but as she did so, he knocked her arms away and wrestled her until she was firmly secured under him. She struggled hard against him, many times almost successfully breaking through his arm or leg locks, but he held firm, ensuring her cold body does not have leverage.

"Amelie Lacriox! That's your name!" he yelled.

"Lacriox is dead!" she shouted back before spitting right into his eyes.

He quickly wiped away the cold spit and was about to activate his Battle Rage to end this quickly when he froze at the sight of the person under him.

It was Moira, with her hateful gaze and nauseating grin. Suddenly he was back in the room with bright lights, his hands and legs were locked in place on that cold table, unable to stop the scalpel that digs uncontested into his flesh...

That was the opening that Widowmaker needed as she expertly twisted her body, broke away from his grips and locked his neck in a perfect triangle chokehold. She could feel him struggling harder now, but there is no escape for this little fly, soon he will be in the eternal sleep by her hands...

"Here's where we keep our computers, I'm sure you'd-" a man said before pausing at the sight.

"Help him!" a girl yelled and the men pounced on command, prying the two apart.

"Wha-" Quillion coughed and was confused when he saw that the girl who yelled was Hana, standing behind a wall of armed men.

"You okay Tim?" she asked, earning him a mix of jealous and confused looks from her bodyguards.

"Let me go!" Widowmaker shouted, kicking down the one grabbing her and was about to break his neck when she was tackled off by three others.

"Don't hurt her!" Quillion ordered, quickly taking control of the situation by forcing her face to look at his, praying that their backup would work.

 _La toute petite araignée a grimpé le long de la gouttière  
_ _La pluie est tombée et a emporté l'araignée_

Everyone watched in amazement as Widowmaker's struggling became limp and her face turned from murderous to sorrow as Quillion continued the song, even her gaze became softer.

 _Le soleil s'est levé et a séché toute la pluie  
_ _Et la toute petite araignée a regrimpé le long de la gouttière._

"Mon dieu… Did… Did I?" she mumbled, looking around.

"No, you're fine, you're fine" Quillion comforted, nodding to the guards to release her.

"What was that? It sounded like Itsby Bitsy Spider" Hana asked in wonder.

"Did I do that?" Amelie asked in shame, looking at the multiple bruises littered all over Quillion's face and neck.

"Nah… I've always looked this ugly" he said and coughed again when he tried to laugh it off.

Without a word, Amelie pushed him aside and exited the room. Hana tried to study her face but it was covered by her long hair.

"Do you need us to take you to the hospital?" Hana asked, to which he shook his head.

"I'm fine… What are you doing here anyway?"

"I… I was bored and these guys were showing me to the computer room, do you need any help?" she said, trying to hide her burning curiosity at what drove them to fight in the first place.

"Nope, I can handle this" Quillion said before going after Amelie.

* * *

*Gibraltar: Overwatch Meeting Room*

"Now that we have settled that issue, we would like to move on to another affair that is of huge importance for the UN" the representative said, closing the file and pulling out a new one.

Winston and Reinhardt had to hold back a groan and looked at Morrison, who remained motionless since the meeting began. They had poured through every possible possibility known to man why the defenses could not have been better than they should've been during the attack, especially when one of the attackers could penetrate deep into the facilities and, almost effortlessly, destroy the evidence that the UN entrusted them with.

"Because of the recent attacks, the UN had spent enormous amount of resources to keep things quiet to maintain your image, therefore we must take all necessary steps to ensure that your next task is successful"

"It is paramount that the Pax Aeternum Treaty is to be signed without incident" the man continued, pulling out another file from his bag "And since your team was 'relieved' from the last task we gave you, we would appreciate it if you can guarantee that you can do your job… For once"

Reinhardt made a move to respond but Morrison held up his hand.

"I promise you sir, that we do everything in our power to make sure that it will be signed without any problems"

"A promise?" the man snorted, slipping the files back into his bag "How much guarantee can a promise be?"

"Oh you will be surprised" Morrison replied with such certainty that the man scowled.

"We shall see" he said, packing his things and standing up.

"If I may ask sir, when will the UN give us the location where the Pax Aeternum will be held?"

"Doubting you own abilities now? I thought Overwatch prides itself in 'adapting to situations'" the man sneered.

"With respects sir, you are naïve if you think we do not need to know" Morrison responded calmly.

The man scowled and walked out of the room. The moment the doors close, Morrison walked over and locked the door before nodding to the other two, allowing them to voice the frustrations that they impressively held back.

"What's his problem?" Reinhardt exclaimed, standing up to stretch.

"He is not comfortable to deal with us" Winston replied, reaching down under the table where he hid his peanut butter.

"Why? We saved the world!"

"As criminals"

"And we stopped Talon"

"As criminals"

"We were the first to respond when the Null Sector attacked Paris!"

"As criminals"

"Enough, we have been tasked to oversee the peace ceremony and we must succeed" Morrison interjected, ending the conversation "First thing's first, do we know who attacked us and why?"

"We could not trace where they came from, it was as if they just entered our airspace, but their objective was clear, to destroy the rocks that were sent to us from France" Winston replied.

"Are there any samples left?"

"No, whatever chemical it was, it melted everything, sorry Jack..."

"The only ones who would attack us so directly is Talon… But I cannot imagine Akande has the vision to prepare splinter groups or backups in the case Talon is destroyed..." Morrison continued.

"New terrorist groups?" Reinhardt added.

"Perhaps… But with that kind gear and coordination… There is only one that would have that kind of power"

"You don't mean…"

"Who else could it be? No one but IT has the power to rival ours in such a manner, the one that we have been ignorant for too long..."

"Sounds like we have another fight on our hands" Reinhardt said enthusiastically.

"Agreed, if they were behind the First and Second Omnic Crisis, then there is no reason for us to believe they are not planning the Third" Winston said with concern.

The three remained silent for a while, each privately processing the terrible reality that the Third War could very well be brewing. As much as Morrison and Reinhardt lived for war, they were sick of it, let alone Winston, who still dreams to show humanity its potential for good and advancement. They looked and understood one another immediately.

The Pax Aeternum Ceremony must not fail.

"Commander, there is an emergency!" Athena said hurriedly.

"What is it?"

As a response, the holovid turned on and to everyone's horror, it was a still image of an eye. The backdrop was purple and there were two sets of three dots, one located above and the other below the eye.

_Omnics, hear me.  
This is your Mother and I am ready to embrace you.  
The world is yours. Always has been.  
If any humans wish to join our cause.  
Bow at the eclipse._

"Where is this being played?" Morrison asked when the video replayed in a loop.

"Across all channels everywhere around the world, no one knows who it is except us, the image matches exactly with the files that Sombra left us and-" Athena replied.

Silence.

"Athena?"

"That's it, forgive me, was browsing through the files"

"Very well, analyze this and locate its source"

"Yes Commander"

"At the eclipse... That's next month... The Pax Aeternum?" Winston speculated, which Morrison nodded.

"Sounds like they want to crash the party" Reinhardt said.

The doors swung open again, an out of breath UN official who looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"Commander! We've got a problem! There's a message from someone called Mother and we believe it is declaring war against humanity again! We must find them and stop them!"

He looked at the two men and gorilla, expecting them to jump into action, but they merely stared back.

* * *

*Gibraltar: Memorial Grounds*

Located away from the busy part of the mountain and facing East, there was something almost mythical to see all the greats in one place and the sun shining down on them. Many of the names have been largely forgotten to the world, but all agents knew who they were and what they had done, and out of respect for their memories, Angela and Lena bowed their heads slightly before entering the grounds.

" _Take as much time as you need"_ Angela wrote, standing back to give Lena some privacy.

Nodding, Lena fought back tears when she saw Emily's name etched on the slab, and bent down to brush away some dirt and the dead flowers that she recognized were the same ones she placed months ago during the funeral.

"Heya… It's me…" she said, hoping she would hear her.

Oh how she herself wished that she could hear something. The wind, the rustling grass, the ocean, just anything else but this deafening silence, anything for her to cling to. Just something that she could imagine to act as her voice while she rests in the grave.

"I got to see some sights recently! I mean… It's been quite a ride, ya'know?"

Silence.

"Hey remember that time we used to run around London? That was neat eh?"

Deafening silence.

"Oh here, I've got something for you" Lena said quickly, pulling out the scarf from her bag "Won this in a carnival just last month, and… and… I thought you'd like it"

The scarf was green, similar to the one that Emily mistakenly thought was hers on that Christmas day. It was a day that is second only to the moment she said yes to her proposal, the day when she decided that she was ready to settle down in this crazy world with the woman whom she loved.

Then realization hit her like a set of bricks when she looked to the graves next to Emily's. It was supposed to be some innocent comment about how she has company, but when she saw that the slabs were noticeably cleaner and with flowers that were still alive, she began to sob.

It was the strangest and most terrible sensation. She could feel her throat vibrating, her lungs expanding and contracting, hot tears that flowed down her face, she could feel it all, but could not hear it... She could not even hear herself say "I missed you" or "I'm sorry", she couldn't even hear herself cry over Emily's grave.

"Damn it! God damn it!" she felt herself yell out, throwing herself onto Emily's slab, slamming her head on the cold stone foundation.

"Why?!" she continued, hitting her head on the ground and reveling the pain that is almost as sweet as it hurts "WHY?!"

Before she could cause more damage to herself, a pair of arms pulled her to a sitting position away from the ground.

"Let me go Angie! Let me go!" she begged and before she could fight her off, she felt a prick on her arm.

"I'm sorry Lena…" Angela said, feeling her friend going limp in her arms.

This was a mistake, she should've followed her doctoral instincts and forced Lena to remain in the Medical Bay, even if she knows full well Lena would just leave when her back is turned, especially with her vertigo cured. All the debating with the insurance companies about sending the bodies back to their waiting families, must've triggered her more humanly nature to overshadow her professionalism.

"Dr Ziegler, do you need assistance?" the groundskeeper panted, running over at the sound of the commotion.

"No, thank you Zack" she replied, carefully adjusting her grip on her friend.

"She must've meant a lot to her"

"In more ways than you know"

Nodding, Zack pulled out a handkerchief and begin to clean the slab.

"Oh you don't need to do that" Angela said.

"It's no problem ma'am, it's the least I can do, I'll make sure this grave will be in better condition when the Lieutenant returns"

* * *

*Overwatch: Private Quarters*

"Hey Amelie? Open the door" Quillion said, knocking on the door.

She had locked the door just as he tried to turn the knob and he could barely make out the springs of the bed when she sat on it.

"Remember what we agreed? No locked doors? Common, open the-" he said and paused when two staff members walked by and looked at him strangely.

"Hey, we can talk this out" he said, now in French.

Silence.

"Look it's not your fault alright? Both of us forgot, it was either the explosion or us jumping into the water that must've damaged the wristband, that was why it didn't alert us"

Silence again.

"Athena, can you open the door?" he asked.

"No" was the answer.

"No as in you can't or you don't want to?"

"I think it is obvious that she does not want to see you"

He almost laughed at such an unexpected answer from the AI, but he collected himself and decided that her diagnosis could be correct, remembering his shame to have his own traumatic episodes and the embarrassment to have someone else to depend on just to pull him out.

"I'll be in the Mess Hall if you need me, should be just the floor below" he said.

She did not reply and looked at his shadow walking away from under the door, an unfamiliar sense of gratefulness for the AI. Looking down at the object that she managed to rescue from the chateau, thankful that the frame survived the blast and the water had not damaged the photo. Her fingers brushed over the face of Gerard, his face melting away the numbing effects that Talon forced into her.

She is no longer Widowmaker. She is Amelie Lacroix, not Widowmaker. She is not an unfeeling killing machine anymore, she is just a woman, a normal civilian who is trying to make amends to her past. That when she saw the tattoo around her right forearm.

_Araignée du soir, cauchemar_

Deep inside, she could feel a sense of fury trying to burst out at this tattoo, but was frustrated when she could not differentiate between anguish and the murdering intent when her Widowmaker persona took over. Groaning, she rubbed her eyes and lay on the bed, trying to clear her thoughts. These few days had been extremely taxing on her to say the least and she needed to calm down, and she knew exactly what she could do to achieve that.

Problem was, she must not do it.

Like an addict, she tossed and turned violently as her desires grew exponentially, the need rippling through her body like fire when a seductive voice worked its way into her heart.

"In a sense, we are now in enemy territory" it whispered, making her shiver "With expansion means more people, more people means more options…"

She clutched her pillow hard, trying to ignore the voice.

"Just a nobody. All you need to find is a nobody and no one else will be the wiser"

The words rang clear as day, each syllable made her slow heart flutter, her lips dry as she started panting in need, all desperation to hold onto her abstinence soon melted away. This self torment was not worth it. What is wrong to feel alive again? Why does she always have to deny the thing that made her feel good?

"Kill… I need a kill…" she whispered, reluctantly getting out of the bed and made her way to the door, slowly discarding her clothes.

"This will be a good kill" she thought, trying to justify this small indulgence "To remove a single, useless worker here, all organizations have those, just a quick taste…"

As luck would have it, when she opened the door, a guard was walking by and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw her, who was wearing nothing but her underwear and looking at him with a strange, lustful gaze. Like a fly, he flew right into her web.

Opening the door wider, she licked her lips in anticipation and beckoned him in, adding to her excitement when he complied. Like a fly, he is slowly being wrapped deeper into her web.

He made a move to kiss her, but she slapped his face and kept a certain distance. She does not want to kill him yet, she had been denied this meal for months and she planned to enjoy it. Thinking this was some sort of foreplay, the guard undressed himself and she grew more excited to see his well built body.

The prey is strong. If she were not careful, he could easily overpower her and he would be the victor here. Which is why this is the best prey she could've hoped for. A dangerous prey will always be the best prey. To end his life right here, right now, to hold the power to erase years of achievements and hard work is intoxicating her mind and soul.

"Yes. I need to feel better" the voice said, drowning out all doubts.

It was time for the spider to strike.

Without warning, she pounced. The man didn't know what hit him, but his training prevented an instant kill, putting a hand over his neck in time before she could complete the headlock. Growling, her vice tightened as he struggled to break free from the hold, thrilled to feel his desperation to throw her off him. It was not long before he started fighting to take a breath… To stay conscious… To stay alive…

She could almost feel it. The sensation to be alive at the expense of another's, feeling his heart that is desperately trying to pump blood into his brain as he struggled as her own. Oh how she missed the feeling of hot blood or throbbing hearts…

However, before she could reach the climax, a pair of hands loomed into view and pulled her arms apart, allowing the man to breath.

"NO!" she shouted, looking at the intruder angrily, and saw that it was Quillion.

Like a balloon, all emotions of frustrations or excitement disappeared in a pop, replaced with almost unbearable shame.

"Get out" he said to the man, kicking him out of the room with his clothes before slamming the door shut.

Both of them stood there awkwardly, one trying to react properly to the shame, while the other thought hard for the words that were not driven by anger or disappointment. To buy some time, he pulled a jacket out of the wardrobe and held it out for her with his head turned. Only after he was sure that she was properly covered did he talk.

"I'm sorry, I should've not left you alone and..." he began and stopped.

He had to pause to stop shaking. If Athena didn't shouted at him about this, she could've been thrown into the detention rooms... She had promised him that she would do everything in her power not to kill anyone anymore and he trusted her! That was the plan! Once they finish the chair, he would leave the chateau and she will re-enter society as a private and quiet…

"You want to do something for me?" she whispered.

"What is it?" he asked hopefully, thankful that her mostly emotionless nature equates to direct questions and requests.

"Get out"

* * *

*Jack Morrison's Office*

Jack let out a long sigh as he sat behind his desk, almost wishing that he did not accept this post. He had forgotten how hard and sensitive these politics are and it seemed to have only become more complicated over the years. The worst part was that despite the UN signing in agreement to have Overwatch be the lead researchers for science and to maintain the integrity of this peacetime, the cost was that they lack any form of autonomy.

Fearing another Blackwatch incident and to protect their investments, the UN placed tight procedures for any major decision that Overwatch wishes to make, be it training the next batch of soldiers or send aids somewhere, they will need to sign requests forms and wait for a week at best to receive the green light to act, which he expects will seriously hamper their efforts in the near future.

It is true that the crime rate across the world has decreased dramatically in the public sectors, but it is only a matter of time before criminals will take advantage of the peace, the key players being IT and Sombra. Thankfully, these tight procedures of reporting still have loopholes and if no one from his staff mentions that McCree and Genji are missing, he can still conduct these secret missions.

He was halfway signing through a stack of papers when Athena spoke.

"Commander, report"

"On screen" he said.

"Lieutenant Oxton, Corporal Zero, and Ms Lacroix are finding it difficult to adapt back to, in your words, 'the real world', Ms Song has calmed down and is currently playing Star Craft 2 with her Security Detail" she reported, showing him the live feed from the security cameras.

"Good… The sooner they realize that vacation is over, the better" he said, pointing his pen to Lena and Quillion.

"If I may Jack, may I know why you accepted them back so quickly? Policy dictates that they must go through court martial and-"

"Because as good as Genji and McCree are in the field, it is better to have more out there" was the simple reply.

"How about Ms Lacriox and Ms Song?"

"Continue to monitor Widowmaker, I'll decide what to do with her soon. Hana Song will return to Korea when the time is right, I receive reports that the military is desperate to have her back"

"When the time is right?"

"Politics. The UN is still trying to figure out what to tell the Korean authorities why and how she ended up in Overwatch… But to do that, they need Lieutenant Oxton to give her testimony about how and why she convinced Ms Song to join her, but that will be after Dr Ziegler discharges her"

"Very well"

The room is quiet once again, saved for the constant scribbling from his pen. After a period of time, he looked up and was surprised to see the glow on his desk that indicated that Athena is still present.

"Yes?" he asked.

"I just want to say that I am still surprised that you sent Genji and McCree out on missions together"

"And why is that?"

"From past records, they would normally require the guidance of Captain Amari to control them"

"They're grown men, I trust that they will put their differences aside" he replied slowly, each word becoming more uncertain than the last as her words gave birth to uncomfortable realization.

"Yes sir, have a good day Commander" she said.

"Wait, have our messages reach them yet?"

"No Commander, there is a storm and we can expect delays between our communication with them"

"Very well, thank you" he said and the light faded out.

Morrison continue signing the papers but unable to shake off Athena's words that echoed in his head, such as 'surprised' and 'together'. Sure it was true that in the past that whenever this pair worked together, they need to be controlled with a short leash, a leash that Reyes and Amari held. Now he had gave them autonomy and some freedom, surely they will not betray his trust right by being responsible, right?

Right?

"Winston get in here!" he yelled as he pressed the call button, wiping off the sweat appearing on his brow.


	6. Chapter 6

*India: Outskirts of Utopaea*

After the recent terrorist attack that deleted half a building, the city is in complete lockdown, its Architects upgrading the already large and formidable network of surveillance and barriers around the city in hopes to catch the ones responsible for this. Every vehicle, flight, and even bicycles are closely monitored by Sentry Turrets, dissuading even McCree and Genji from going in.

"I still do not know why we didn't just wait in Tibet" Genji said, annoyed that he is even here instead of visiting Nepal.

"Hey we gotta take the initiative here, especially since the base was attacked, they must be getting their hands full from them UN knuckleheads" McCree replied, putting down his binoculars.

They had driven around the city multiple times to find some way in but the city had become a fortress. Fortified with additional Hard Light walls and watchtowers that only this city can produce overnight, they were stumped.

In the past they would've took their chances and just walk in, relying on their bounty to dissuade all but the most innocent or idiotic police authorities. Now however, they are both recognized heroes of the UN, they cannot enter any city or country without permission, lest they create more problems for Jack, something they were not keen on doing.

"And what does this 'initiative' have to do with our original mission?" Genji sighed.

"Come come now, I know you can't think but at least try"

"Apologies that I do not think like a fool"

"Takes one to know one" McCree said, lighting a cigar "EMP attack? Can't find the culprits? I think it's pretty obvious who did it"

"Which could've been anyone"

"Or it could be the one we're looking for"

Genji jumped down from the roof of the car and looked around at the beautiful fields and mountains nearby, trying to distract himself from the uneasiness brewing within. The problem with secret missions against the world's best hacker was to sever all conventional means of communication with base, leaving them with painfully slow updates via delivery drones and short notes hidden in peanut butter jars to avoid suspicion.

Worst still was that the last message they received was two days ago, which is as vague as their previous exchanges:

_Attacked. Situation contained. Await further orders._

Ever since then, they have been in the dark because there was some storm somewhere over the ocean, stopping all drone deliveries for possibly another day, which prompted McCree to have his 'initiative' to move out.

"Welp, looks like there is no way in, let's go to a nearby town and think of another way" McCree yawned.

"Hand me the communicator, perhaps there is an update about the deliveries"

"Don't worry, I'm sure your girlfriend is alright"

"That is not the only thing I want to check" Genji lied.

"And what might that be?"

"None of your business!"

"If you say so" McCree laughed.

Climbing into the car, McCree turned the keys and the engine shuddered to life, which annoyed Genji slightly. They are already limited in terms of cash and he just had to rent a car that still uses keys, its almost antique quality doubled the cost compared to a more modern vehicle, all because it 'reminds him of home', leading Genji to believe that Americans are way behind in terms of technology.

What made the experience even worse is that McCree has a habit of smoking and drinking as he drives, filling the car full of smoke and alcohol.

"How can you breathe this in?" Genji asked, winding down the windows.

"What? This?" McCree asked and grabbed the cigar from his mouth "Wanna try?"

"No"

"You know, these aren't as bad as you'd think"

"Having one lung left would make you reconsider that option" Genji said, absentmindedly tapping the mechanical side of his chest.

"And that is why we got the good doctor to patch us up"

"I do not appreciate that you plan to take advantage of her" Genji said, his words laced with anger.

"Oh right I've always wanted to ask, how'd you secure a fine catch like her?"

"What?"

"I mean, she could've gotten any man she wants ya know? How'd a little guy like you get a hot doc like her?"

"McCree…"

"I mean, how many docs you know got a nice pair like hers? They're practically bursting-"

The car grew green as Genji threatened to draw his katana, the dragon seeping out of the scabbard and clawed dangerously at McCree.

"Apologise, or I'll send your head back to the Deadlock Gang"

"Aww common, there's no need for that, stop being such a - OWW!" he shouted when one of the dragon's claws scratched his thigh.

"Hey! Get your lizard under control- OWW!" he shouted again when sharp claws slashed across his arm.

"If you do not apologize soon, I doubt that even I can hold the dragon back" Genji mused, unsheathing the katana further, allowing the dragon to move closer to McCree.

"Okay! Sorry alright? Now get it off me before we crash!"

The green light disappeared the moment Genji sheathed his weapon, reluctantly reining the dragon back just before it had a chance to bite off McCree's hat.

"I will accept your apology… For now…"

"Okay partner, real talk? You need to chill"

"And you need to grow up"

The rest of the drive was uneventful and uncomfortable, counting down the time as they drove to the nearby town that they had decided to be their base of operation, tolerating each other's presence as quietly as possible. Thankfully it only lasted for half an hour.

It is a small place and only saw hints of modernization, most importantly it has no tourist attractions so they do not have to worry about people, it also left them with a single hotel that mainly serves as a pitstop, meaning not much questions will be asked. Problem was, it was already late and despite the exchange rate, they realized too late that both of them had just enough cash to check in for a couple of nights.

"You've gotta be kidding me" McCree sighed, checking his wallet once again.

"Why does life have to be so hard…" Genji lamented.

It was the most difficult thing that either of them had to do in their lives. Both of them have personally survived through impossible odds, McCree travelled the world as a wanted man bringing in other wanted men, even losing an arm in the process. Genji was hunted down by his own brother and had most of his body severed by said brother.

Both of them went through hell and then some by fighting in both the First and Second Omnic Crisis. But now, what they were about to do will eclipse the pain and suffering they endured, summoning every fibre of their experience and patience to the task at hand.

Sharing a room.

The door swung open and revealed a cozy little space complete with everything one would expect of a hotel room. However, to their despair, there was only one bed.

"That's it, I'm sleeping in the car" McCree said and was about to walk away when Genji stopped him.

"The car is out in the streets, if anyone saw you, they'll eventually link you back to Overwatch"

McCree thought about it for a moment before realization lit up in his eyes. Smiling and patting on Genji's shoulder, he laughed.

"I am glad we can come to an agreement" he said with a smile, confusing Genji "And here I thought this is going to be difficult"

"Excuse me?"

McCree didn't hear him, instead he walked over to the bed and, with his boots still on, plopped onto the bed. He pulled out another cigar and was in the process of lighting it when it was pulled out his hands.

"Hey!"

"What do you think you are doing?" Genji snarled.

"What we've agreed, don't tell me you have second thoughts now, cause I've already made myself comfortable"

"What agreement?!"

"That you'd be sleeping on the floor"

"I have made no such agreement!"

"Eh? Isn't that why you stop me from going out? There's only one bed here, what else are we going to do?" McCree protested.

"Since you were prepared to sleep in the car, I was going to suggest you sleep on the chair and I sleep on the bed"

"Now how was I supposed to know that? Since you Japs like to sleep on the floor!"

"Excuse me?"

"Common, you guys do everything on the floor! Eat on the floor, sleep on the floor, meditate on the floor, heck I'm surprised you know what a chair is"

"Damare konoyarou! Listen here McCree-!" Genji shouted.

* * *

*Next room*

"This is why I never want to get married" Sombra sighed as angry bickering muffled through the walls.

"Don't be like that, I'm sure not all couples are as loud as they are" Baptiste mused, opening a bag of baby carrots.

They had been hiding here for nearly a week and her bleeding had finally stopped, with their energy recovered and their next target set, he waited patiently until she felt it was a good time to move. Sombra has opted to stay for now and he is relieved to hear it, for many months they had been actively on the move and barely had enough chance to rest.

Now, for the first time since he teamed up with her, he felt fully refreshed, holed up in a relatively secure place, and their suits are fully charged for the first time in months. In short, they are more than ready to either tackle HLC or break her friends out wherever they are held in.

However, he had noticed some changes in Sombra's demeanour. Normally whenever they are hiding or waiting, she would pass the time by hacking seemingly random objects or catching up with the latest tidbits or news article to blow his mind with background information that would be impossible to know if one does not know where to look. Now she spends most of her days eating carrots and watching cartoons.

"Maybe she's still in shock, losing all 4 fingers so suddenly is rough" he thought.

Another outburst came from next door, catching the attention of Sombra again, who looked at the wall with annoyance.

"Want me to go tell them to shut up?" Baptiste asked.

"No, it's fine…" she said, returning her gaze at the cartoon, subconsciously massaging her stumped hand and testing how much pressure she could apply before feeling pain.

After a brief silence, Baptiste spoke again.

"Should we find out who those two were in the temple? At least we'll know where they are or if someone else is coming after us?"

"You do that"

Troubled by the response, Baptiste half heartedly pulled out the Multi Purpose Device from the bag again and navigated to the facial recognition page. Removing an eyepiece from the sunglasses, he inserted it and in no time, found some information about their new hunters.

"Ex war boys, nerds of the class, family men, loves his job… Did you make up these descriptions?" he asked, holding up the tab.

"Yeah I got bored after a while"

It only took him a few minutes to feel a slight chill at their accomplishments. The men are brothers and have served together for years. Veterans of the First Omnic Crisis and were involved in every major battle that were key victories behind the survival of India.

Despite their advanced age, these two were favourites when it came to silencing some targets that were deemed 'too difficult' for normal authorities to handle, acting as enforcers during the Second Crisis in the background. What caught Baptiste's eyes was that they had yet to fail a mission.

However, their record was not all clean, both were bad fathers, made bad financial decisions, and had accidentally killed a bypasser who accidentally bumped into one of the brothers, enticing a violent response from both of them. In official records, they were supposed to be in jail, but due to their wealth of experience, they were 'hired' by the government to 'capitalize investments' to decrease their sentence.

"Looks like we got lucky, they're bad news" he commented, skimming through all the missions that the brothers had been involved in "Even I doubt I could've taken them on if they were expecting me"

"Good thing you were there then…"

"Yeah, well, when do we move? Do we go back to Dorado to get… Upgrades for your hand?"

"You mean replacements" she corrected bitterly.

"Yeah, replacements, just let me know when and I'll pack things up and-"

"We aren't going anywhere"

"What?" he asked, confused.

"Let's just stay here for another week… Until the pain stops"

He looked at her strangely, thankful that the shouting from the next room grew ever louder so there were no awkward silences. Just a month ago he almost had to tie her down to recover from a particularly nasty wound she sustained from one of their hunters, so to hear her deciding to stop is a very concerning thing to hear.

"You still dizzy there? I think you meant another day?" he said tentatively.

"Nah… I'm sure we are safe now so a week is fine…"

"Isn't that too long? Even if those guys won't find us, I'm sure others would, remember the mercenaries in Tibet? Those two from Overwatch? There are many people looking for us to just sit still"

"I've used better hacks, this time no one would find us"

"What about your friends? You said you are going to break them out right? We gotta go to HLC and take them out!"

At those words, Sombra's hand trembled and dropped the carrot that she was about to eat. Surprised, he picked it up and offered it back to her.

"I thought the 5 second rule is a myth? You should know Mr Doctor" she said sarcastically, trying to brush off her obvious discomfort.

"I cleaned these floors myself, so its safe" he replied, dropping the carrot into her hand "But unlike the floor, this hotel ain't that safe"

"I already said we'll be fine"

Deciding to let it slide for now, Baptiste stood up and stretched while the muffled argument grew violent in the other room. They listen with interest when soft thuds, even loud clattering or breaking can be heard.

"What could they be possibly arguing about?" he thought and looked out the window.

The streets are now vacant as the dinner rush is over and a few occasional vehicles would drive by and break the silence as they make their way to the nearby bars. They had undoubtedly had a good rest, but he could feel that it had begun to dull his senses, something that he is uncomfortable knowing, as he only survived this long because he was always alert.

But… Perhaps she is right… Though he tries not to underestimate the next potential group of hunters, he maintains a fair reserve of confidence, especially after his last scuffle with the brothers, both who have considerable experience on paper but were nothing compared to Talon Kill Squads. If he could hold them off without a scratch, the rest should be easy enough.

Or so he thought when a faint clicking noise could be heard over the sound of the neighbours.

"What's that?" Sombra asked, dropping another carrot and turning off the holovid.

Before any of them could react, the EMP grenade went off, deleting the front door in a flash of light, immediately followed by a flashbang that disoriented both of them.

Just as the brothers charge in the walls came crashing down.

"When I'm done with you, you'll only need half the hat!"

* * *

*Next Room - 1 minute earlier*

"- and that's another thing! Your stupid fighting style! It's old son! Upgrade yourself a bit!"

"Better than your stupid cowboy antics! We are literally near the end of the 21st century and you still use a six-shooter!"

"Says the ninja who only flicks stars around!" McCree shot back, hiding the surprise that Genji knows more vocabulary than he usually thought.

"They're not stars, they're shurikens!"

"Oh I'm sorry, I didn't know you named them! Do you have a little baby book that you use? What else did you name?" McCree asked sarcastically.

"I can introduce you to another one right now" Genji shouted, pulling out his blade, unleashing the Dragon from its confines.

"I'd like to see you try!" McCree shouted back with equal anger, his revolver and flashbang at the ready.

They stared at each other until a 'bang' sound was heard.

_Ryuin no ken wo kurae!_

_Step right-_

Seeing that he could not attack in time, McCree dodged away as Genji slashed down, his blade slicing through everything so cleanly that it might as well not be there. Before he could turn around, a flashbang stunned him for a moment.

Blinking away the effects, he recovered just in time to see McCree had aimed his revolver but was able to deflect the two shots easily.

"Your bullets are too slo- ARGH!" Genji shouted when McCree punched him in the groin with his mechanical arm.

"Well, looks like they do still work" he said when Genji dropped to one knee, clutching his groin "Two bullets, two balls"

In a fit of rage, Genji tried to return the favor, but his punch was kicked away.

"Unlike you I always protect my family jewels! Now stay down or- OWW" he shouted when the Dragon clawed at his arm once again.

"Okay now that's unfair!" he shouted, rolling away from the giant lizard and raised his revolver at it.

Genji leapt into the air, both hands gripped tightly at the handle of the katana, his murderous gaze almost flashing through his visor. How dare he think that he is a worthy foe for the Dragon?

"Whoa not the hat!" McCree shouted, just managing to duck away from the slash that tore down the wall behind him.

"When I'm done with you, you'll only need half the hat!" Genji roared and was about to continue his attack when he felt four pairs of eyes looking at him.

* * *

Gulping down his anger, Genji turned around slowly and leaned forward in an apologetic bow.

"Gomen'nasai, we did not mean to interrupt your evening" he apologized.

"Now you've done it" McCree scolded, checking his hat for cuts "This is going to come out of your paycheck, not mine...Oh"

"McCree! Apologize!" Genji hissed.

"Err… Partner? Better look up"

Genji grunted in annoyance. It was bad enough that he lost his temper, now he had to follow stupid instructions to put up a show that Overwatch's people have good teamwork with one another. However, his frustrations were cut short when he saw who the eyes belonged to.

To his left, was Sombra and Baptiste next to the sofa, to his right, were two men who looked like brothers due to matching outfits and noses, who looked like they just barged into the room. All staring at them in complete shock.

"Oh"

In the split of a second, all guns (and a katana) are pointed to each couple.

"Well… Looks like an ol' Mexican standoff" McCree said, trying not to sound too happy.

"This does not concern you American, leave" one of the men said.

"Now look boys, all we want is those two over there" he replied, nodding his head towards Sombra and Baptiste "Everything else is yours"

"We are not going anywhere with you!" Baptiste spat, keeping his weapon pointed at the brothers.

"You cannot have them, if you interfere, you will regret it" the other man snarled.

"Look, I'm sure that we can all come to a nice, civilized…" McCree continued until his Deadeye locked onto the targets.

Four shots rang out and everyone's weapons flew out of their hands. Now defenseless, Sombra tried to throw a Relocator out of the window, but it was cut apart when Genji saw and dashed to it, preventing blocking the escape route.

Seeing an opening, both of the men reached into their jackets but froze when McCree stepped in front of them, his revolver high and ready.

"I know what you're both thinkin', did he fire six shots or only four? Cause after all that excitement, I forgot myself. But my baby Peacemaker here, is a revolver designed to take down big bad Behemoths, so we can only imagine what it'll do to a man… So you gotta ask yourself one question. Do you feel lucky? Well do ya punk?"

First there was no movement. Then McCree saw that both brothers made motions to pull out their backup weapons, prompting him to run.

"What?" Genji asked when McCree jumped past him.

"Get down!" McCree shouted, grabbing both Sombra and Baptiste and shoved them behind the sofa.

"Why didn't you shoot?!" Sombra shouted over the gunfire.

"Guess they felt lucky" McCree said, opening the cylinder and ejecting the shells.

"You didn't have ammo?!" she shouted again, unable to believe what just happened.

"Hey not everyone feels that lucky"

"And you didn't have ammo?" she yelled yet again.

"Well, now I do" he replied, after he reloaded his weapon and stood back up to fight, but he didn't need to.

An already anger fueled Genji has taken care of the men, resorting to hand to hand combat and knocking them both out with such ease that Baptiste now knows why the cyborg ninja was near the top of Talon's hit list.

"Welp, now that's that taken care of, let's get down to business" McCree said, holstering his weapon and grabbed Sombra by her hand, causing her to cry out in pain.

"Wait stop! Let her go!" Baptiste protested but McCree kicked him back down to the floor.

"Sorry son, but I ain't gonna do that, we know what she can do with her left hand" he said, giving it an extra squeeze in an attempt to find her fingers.

But instead, all he felt is something warm flowing down his hand.

"What?" he asked and saw that the sensation was caused by blood leaking out of the bandage.

"Is that blo… bl…" he muttered. Then his face paled like a ghost... Before collapsing to the ground.

Baptiste immediately tended to Sombra, who was paralyzed by the pain as her wounds reopened. Seeing this, Genji relaxed his posture and knelt down to check on McCree.

"What happened? Was he shot?" Baptiste asked.

"No, he never liked blood. What happened to her?"

"I don't know, but please, don't arrest me, at least not before I stitch her up, she'll bleed out if I don't do anything about this now"

"Then follow me" Genji said as distant sirens grew louder.

When the authorities rushed into the room, they were shocked to see the damages that had been done to the Hard Light material. The wall, the furniture, even the doors has either been cut or blown apart, both requiring either military hardware or miracles to pull off.

The most puzzling thing for them however, was two unconscious men on the ground, their arms and legs bound, and a note next to them.

_Guilty_

* * *

*Near the Hotel*

"Whagoin'on?" McCree mumbled, squinting at the white light above his face.

The last time he woke up with white lights above his face was when he visited the dentist, or when he flashed himself in the face that one time, or when he was in the Medical Bay. Before his eyes could adjust, he heard someone moving nearby.

"Please tell me you're not the teeth doctor…" he said.

"You mean a dentist?" a woman replied, prompting him to smile.

"Well, if you look as pleasant as you sound, I suppose it doesn't matter"

He heard her snort and before he knew it, cold water was doused into his nose.

"Hey hey! At least ask before you do that" he coughed and sat up.

"Then have more respect for women"

Blowing the water from his nose, he was shocked to discover that the voice belongs to Sombra. He rolled out of the table so quickly, he bumped into Baptiste, who in turn, knocked the cereal bowl off the table, which Genji caught with his foot.

"About time you woke up" Genji said, lifting the bowl back to the table.

"What's going on? Where are we?"

"You were knocked out, target required medical attention, we are now in someone's house, to which the girl assured is on vacation" Genji said, pointing his spoon at Sombra.

"I was knocked out? How?"

"Didn't know you have a weak stomach towards blood" Sombra said snarkily.

"N-No I don't! I just don't like to get dirty" McCree replied angrily, his face reddening as he looked for a cigar, trying to ignore the terrifying memory of blood on his hands.

"How are you even a cowboy if you can't stand the sight of blood? Isn't that like… Part of the life?" she continued.

"I do not have a problem with blood!"

"Oh really? I highly doubt that" she countered, brandishing a bloody rag in front of him, making him wince.

"Genji, what's going on? Aren't they our prisoner or something? Get over here and help me!"

"Yes they are, but I have not finished my own cereal yet" Genji said before crunching on a spoonful and watching with glee.

"Cereal? What time is it?"

"3am"

"OK everyone hold up!" McCree shouted so suddenly that everyone stopped.

Everything was happening too fast. First he fainted, then Genji somehow secured Sombra and Baptiste but they show absolutely no signs of being 'prisoners', and now they are all in someone's house? There are many questions that need to be answered and what he is about to ask is the most important one of all.

"Why are you eating cereal at 3 o'clock in the morning?" he finally asked.

"Of all the questions you could've asked, that's the one you go for?!" Sombra shouted back.

It took about five minutes to explain everything. How they avoided the police by jumping off the roof of the hotel to a nearby store, using the Multi Purpose Device to find a place where they could hide out and with the highest probability to find scissors and bandages, patched up Sombra's wounds and now waiting for the authorities to finish their investigation in the area.

It was not a clean escape however, as most of Sombra's and Baptiste's gear are being confiscated by the police as they speak. Translocators, weapons, research, healing grenades, etc, leaving them nothing but the Battle Suits that they had 'acquired' from Russia. Their lack of gear gave Genji enough confidence to allow them some breathing room as they could not hope to defeat or escape from him even if they wanted to.

Plus, the cereal is a brand that Angela used to eat when she was younger so he decided to try it. He concludes that it will take some time to appreciate its flavours.

"Alright… So… Technically we captured them, so why didn't you call it in?" McCree asked.

"There is still a storm so the drones will not be here soon"

"Forget the drones! Why don't you just pick up a phone? We've already got the hacker!"

"The hacker has a name…" Sombra interjected, now sitting in the corner with Baptiste.

"Because this is a secret mission and the communicator stores will not be open until 9" Genji replied, ignoring her.

"Why do we need to go to the store?"

"The police have our communicators so we need new ones"

Genji slurped down the last of the cereal and saw the horrified expression on McCree's face.

"Do not worry, we will be borrowing money from him" he assured, turning his head slightly towards Baptiste.

"We gotta get those things back"

"What? Why? I doubt that anyone here can unlock the phone"

"Err… I may have… Not set a password for ours…" McCree said sheepishly.

First there was silence. Then a chuckle. Then a full laugh from Sombra, who accidentally slapped her hand down in hilarity and grimaced in pain, but continued laughing while Genji's hand inched closer to his katana.

* * *

Hey all, I hope everyone is having/will have a good day?

Just want to give a heads up that the upcoming chapters will be slower, especially for this month as I have to help out with the festive season and all (during COVID lockdown, imagine that).

So yeah, hope you are enjoying the story and I'll see you in the next one :D


	7. Chapter 7

Hey all,

Admittedly, this was supposed to be a filler Valentine’s Day chapter (looks like it's a thing) but the festive season ate my time and it is a shame to just delete it so hopefully it is still enjoyable.

* * *

*Canada: Small Town*

Waking up from another peaceful night's sleep, Fareeha looked out the window and appreciated the beauty that is just outside her home. A magnificent view of the crystal clear blue lake that reflected the skies so beautifully that it looked like there were two skies, its shores were flanked with generations old pine and birch, all overseen by a majestic snowy mountain where the lake receives its water.

Fresh air blew into the room when she opened her windows, filling it with the hint of sweet and nutty smell of nature. Taking a deep breath, she dropped to the floor and did her usual sets of pushups, followed closely with bear crawls and planking. Once her blood was pumping, she threw on her jogging attire and ran around the lake, nodding and greeting the other joggers. After completing the third lap around the lake, she leaned against one of the trees for a short break when a man stopped in front of her.

"Don't tell me you… Finished three laps in one go again…" he gasped, hands on his knees and panting hard.

"Good morning Lucas, I see that you just finished your first" she smiled.

"Hey… This lake's like… 4km in length..."

Lucas was one of the newer friends she made while jogging here for the past months. From what she was told, he is from a well-respected family and is one of the younger bankers who holds a high ranking position in the bank. Another strange rumor was that he never started jogging until someone told him that she was jogging here... But she brushed it off as fun gossip.

"Common, let's see if you can keep up this time" she laughed before taking off.

"H-hey!" he called out and forced his legs to move.

In no time she lost him but didn't notice until she finished the jog, too focused on her own workout. Challenging herself to a final sprint back to her home, she ran right into a delicious breakfast that was just about to be eaten.

"Milo no!" she cried, picking up the Birman just when he reached out his paws at the apple fritters set out for her.

"Don't tell me he was on the table again!" Sam called from the bathroom.

"I told you, you just have to push the chairs away from the table" she shot back, dropping the cat on the floor, which proceeded to purr and rub itself around her leg.

"Yeah yeah, those should've cooled down by now so better eat up before they get too cold" he said, washing his hands and sat down on the table.

"Where's mom?" she asked, sitting down after pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"You know her, she needs to walk… How was your jog? Was Lucas there today?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Nothing..." her father said, picking up the newspaper with a slight smile.

After an hour, she washed the dishes and bid Sam goodbye as he went off to work. Taking her time to feed Milo, she made sure that Sam's car was out of sight before rushing to the shed in the back.

Sam had not used it for years since he stopped his woodworking after failing to receive permit to chop down the nearby trees of the forest that they are living next to due to a Nature Preservation Law that prevented the town from expanding. Normally the downside of being so close to the woods is the variety of insects or an occasional racoon that will invade the houses, but to Fareeha, it was a perfect hiding spot.

Unlocking the shed, she grabbed the bag that she hid under a large blanket and checked if everything was in order before going into the woods, not stopping until she reached a clearing where burnt marks were plentiful on the floor and many unnatural holes at the forested ceiling above her.

"Okay… Nice and easy, just like yesterday" she thought, pulling out her jetpack and strapping it on.

"One… Two… Three!"

In a gust of wind, she flew into the air, just high enough to rake her hand gently across the leaves. Timing her hovering, she preserved her jet fuels by letting out short bursts of air and rocketing back only when necessary to maintain herself in the air as long as possible.

Using footage from her past combat missions that Overwatch retrieved for her, it took months to remember how to hover and maneuver properly in the air, especially through tight corners. She was amazed how she used to move with such grace and precision, even when the skies lit up in a hailstorm of fire, now she could barely hover between tree trunks.

Twisting around a particularly difficult curve, she accidentally slammed into a log and had she not repositioned herself in time to direct the thrusters to the ground, she knew she would walk back with broken bones.

"Phew…" she thought and wiped the sweat off her forehead.

She vaguely remembered that the first thing they learned in Helix was how to hover for long periods of time, sometimes it may even feel that she could hover forever. Now with her lost memories, she found herself grounded more often and could barely maneuver around. She wished to practice in open air instead of these trees, but because of her love for her father, she decided to do this in complete secret.

The past few months had been a time of incredible happiness for her father, more so than all the years they spent Christmas together combined, to be finally reunited with his whole family that he thought was lost. Her mother also cherished the time they had together. First she was rather sheepish, not knowing how to apologize and make up for the years of pain that she had caused, but thankfully it did not take long for Sam to recover from his shock and quickly accepted the healing process.

With great enthusiasm he drove them around town, showing them the sights and did almost everything to keep them as comfortable as possible. With long walks around the lakeside, staring at the starry skies, or to just sit in the living room and listen to the decades worth of stories from Ana, it was all brimming with love and care that the family had not felt in a long time.

Yet despite all that, after months of blissful reunion, it was clearer day by day that this peaceful country is not fitting for people like Ana or Fareeha. When the days passed, they passed slower and slower, building up an anxiety that they could not shake off, leading to Ana's long walks and Fareeha's secret practices.

She was packing her things when a rustling of leaves caught her attention.

"Who's there?"

"Looking good there 'Eeha" Ana said, walking into the scene.

"How did you know I was here?!"

"If you've forgotten, I'm a sniper, figuring out where people are is part of my job"

"And you have been looking for me?"

"I prefer to know where everyone is at all times…" Ana said before looking up at the damages that Fareeha had done to the trees "You know there is a clearing just two minutes away where you can practice without damaging these trees"

"I know, but I think I can practice better among the trees" she lied.

"Speaking of, good to see that you are able to move around more now instead of just floating at a single direction"

"So on the scale of 1-10, how easy will it be to shoot me down?"

"Honestly… 8"

"What?"

"What they taught you in Helix was correct, using the skies as 'cover', however, against an experienced marksman, you'll need to start taking cover even in the air"

"But I've never done that in my combat videos"

"Null Sectors may be dangerous, but it is difficult to code experience for a machine, unlike real soldiers" Ana said with pride.

Slinging the bag over her shoulder, they walked back home together, enjoying each other's company and the sights around them, never tiring to appreciate the brimming peace and beauty here, even stopping to look at the lake when it loomed into view.

"Lucas there this morning?" Ana asked.

"Yes? Why is everyone asking me that?" Fareeha asked, slightly annoyed by the question.

"Nothing"

Milo was the first to greet them when they entered the house, meowing loudly and rubbing himself around their legs. It was getting late and Fareeha was taking some food out of the fridge when Ana stopped her.

"Let's go to that new restaurant instead"

"Don't worry mom, it's no problem" Fareeha said, thinking that Ana doubts her cooking skills.

"I know, but Sam has been craving for some local food for a while now"

There was something weird about how Ana said it, but Fareeha shrugged it off because Sam had been struggling to digest the Egyptian cuisine that they had been preparing since they came back, especially when both loved to add in extra spices into their cooking. After pouring out another packet of food for Milo, they cleaned up and went to the restaurant located around the block.

It is a medium sized restaurant, easily serving up to 30 tables while maintaining comfortable distances between guests, and specializes in local cuisine. Fareeha, who has never visited before, found the place to be nice and warm, deserving of its favorable reviews for being a great family restaurant in the area.

After ordering, a voice called out to Fareeha just after Ana excused herself to the bathroom.

"Fancy seeing you here"

She looked and saw that it was Lucas.

"Hello Lucas, what are you doing here?"

"Just hanging out with my buddies" he said, pointing to his friends who were seated at the corner of the restaurant "You?"

"Just getting some pick up"

"Nice, what did you order?"

"Just a steak, scalloped potatoes, and a tourtiere"

"Traditional, but... If I may make a recommendation, you should try these" he said, leaning down to the pastry display next to the counter "The butter tarts here are delicious"

"Oh okay, maybe next-"

"Hello Lucas, fancy seeing you here" Ana said.

"Hello Mrs Amari, I was just recommending some butter tarts to add on to your takeaway"

"Thank you dear, I think we will have some"

"Great! You will not regret it" he said, walking away and chatted with the cashier quickly before returning to his table.

"Mom! We didn't bring that much money" Fareeha hissed.

"Do not worry, I'm sure we can negotiate the price" she said.

Knowing better than to argue, she could only watch as Ana made her way to the cashier and pointed to the butter tarts. Fingering the notes in her pocket, she wished that she had handled her money better, having spent most of it on poor investments and impulsive purchases... And so far away from payday as well.

When the food came, she braced herself for Ana to start haggling the price, but to her surprise, not only did she take the food without paying, but they seem to be giggling about something while casting glances at her.

"What was that about?" Fareeha asked and grabbed the bags from Ana and noticed that it contained much more than they originally ordered.

"Mom? This can't be ours" she said, looking at the few extra containers.

"Oh Lucas there added a few more things, he swore that we must try these, so much so he paid for our dinner! Isn't he a dear?"

Fareeha looked at his table with slight annoyance, but he avoided her gaze, chatting away with his friends with a slight smile on his face.

"You want to thank him for me?" Ana asked.

"No. Let's go"

"That smells delicious" Sam said, kicking his shoes off at the door and patting Milo, who was cleaning himself on the sofa.

"Then come in before the food gets cold" Ana called.

"Thank you dear" he said, kissing her on the cheek before sitting down.

Wasting no time, they said their prayers and ate, all agreeing that the restaurant is worth its salt. And, with Fareeha's reluctance, they all loved the butter tarts.

"That was great… How much did you pay for all this?" Sam sighed, leaning back in his seat.

"We didn't" Ana said before Fareeha could reply.

"Oh? Then how did you pay for this?"

"Lucas was there"

"Oh he paid for this? That's nice of him"

"Ok stop" Fareeha said, putting down the half eaten butter tart.

"Stop what?" Ana asked innocently.

"I know what both of you are doing and I feel very uncomfortable about it"

"What do you mean?" Sam asked.

"Don't play dumb, I know you arranged this somehow" she said, looking at Ana with suspicious eyes.

"What do you mean?"

"You said its your job to know where people are right? Somehow you... You... I just know both of you are behind this!"

Irritated, Fareeha walked away with a huff, annoyed that both of them were obviously hiding the fact that they had arranged all her recent encounters with Lucas. They must be behind the reason for his presence during her morning jogs and now in restaurants? Are they so desperate for her to settle down that they had to somehow manipulate him to be near her at all times just because she once said he was cute?

Too frustrated to sleep, she grabbed the book next to her bed and try to clear her mind by immersing herself into the story of Peter Freuchen, a Danish explorer who survived absolutely incredible odds and remained unbroken until death finally caught up to him via heart attack late into his life.

After she calmed down, she turned off the lights, and was about to sleep when muffled voices came from the door. It was common for Ana and Sam to talk late into the night, normally about finances or what to eat tomorrow, so she did not think much of it. That was until some key words perked her attention.

"...don't have to go"

"Won't be long… Jack needs me…"

Go? Jack? Jack Morrison? Sliding out of bed so quietly that it will elude even a sniper, Fareeha crept to the door and pressed her ear against the slit under the door.

"But-"

"Shh!" Ana hushed.

Fareeha held her breath and stayed absolutely still, praying hard that Ana did not hear her movements prior. After a solid minute, they started talking again.

"Can't he just send someone else?" Sam said so quietly that Fareeha closed her eyes to concentrate.

"Not for those two. And especially not after what happened at Gibraltar"

"I still don't like it, why does it have to be you? What if they call her back too?"

"They won't. Overwatch now have a voice in the UN, I will have them relieve her from her duties as a HSI Pilot"

Fareeha gritted her teeth in anger. Ana is still trying to stop her from going back out into the fight? How long has she been hiding the fact that Overwatch had been contacting her? Does she not have a say in this?

"That won't stop her…"

"Which is why we must give her more reason to stay"

"I don't know…" Sam sighed.

She could hear wood creaks of the chairs as Ana reached over to hug him.

"I lost an eye creating a future for her Sam… Please help me make her live it"

"Okay..." he said after a brief silence "Can I at least know where you are going?"

"From what I've been told, I'll have to start in Utopaea"

After that exchange, she could hear the chairs being pushed back and water running as they proceeded to wash the dishes.

Forcing herself not to punch something, Fareeha breathed hard to calm the rising rage that she thought was long forgotten. A rage that was birthed since she received her mother's letter years ago after she thought she was dead.

Once more her mother is only thinking of herself, ignoring the dreams and desires of her daughter.

"How can she be so selfish?" she thought with seething intensity.

The Amari was forged through the fires of war, each of them were all decorated soldiers, and Ana desires to see it end with her? Why? Why is she so selfish to only think about herself? Does she seriously still think that she is a child who cannot decide for herself? However, underneath all of this, she could feel a soft voice that fought for dominance amongst the rage, paving the way to new questions and possibilities.

Why shouldn't she stay? What else is there to fight since the war is over? Shouldn't she spend some time to at least try out the life that her mother fought hard to give her?

These thoughts plagued her through the night, pondering on the fact that Dr Ziegler did bring her back from the dead... How many have this opportunity to literally have a second chance for life?

* * *

*Next Day*

"Seriously… There's no way… You just did three laps…"

Fareeha smiled as she finished her stretches. It is another beautiful day and Lucas was once again here, panting hard when she already caught her second wind.

"Well done, you have beaten your own time" she said, looking at her watch.

"Don't change the… What? You're keeping track?" he asked, the fatigue suddenly gone.

"Common, let's see if you can keep up this time" she laughed.

"Ladies first" he said, fully energized and ready to run a thousand laps.

* * *

*5 minutes later*

"Still a good effort there" Fareeha laughed, patting Lucas in the back.

They had just completed half a lap and she slowed down purposefully for him to keep up. Only until she was sure that he was about to faint did she keep an eye out for the bench and sat down, which he joined gladly.

He could not even reply, having spent every ounce of energy to keep up with her and amazed that she was barely out of breath. Though he was no slouch in the physical sense by any means, for her to conquer this track so easily made him feel really out of shape.

"Her house must be full with marathon medals" he thought, breathing down his burning lungs.

"Thank you for the dinner" she said.

"Haha… Don't mention it… Those butter tarts were good eh?"

"Yes, I just need to buy some milk later to enjoy the rest of it"

"Ahh, do you need help? Those bags can get pretty heavy"

"Do I look like I need help?" she asked sternly.

"Oh no! Sorry I-" he started but she waved it off, laughing.

"No thanks Lucas, I think I can manage a few bags of milk"

After bidding him goodbye, she ran one more lap before making her way back home, where she cleaned up, fed Milo some food, and made her way to the Supermarket.

It was a good choice to go today as there is a big sale going on. In addition to the milk, she took her time and bought additional ingredients to practice cooking some of the local cuisines with plans to add an Egyptian twist to them. After subscribing to a virtual cook guide, she thanked the cashier and went home.

Taking her time, she skimmed through the guide and found a handful of recipes that are within her skillset. Tying her hair and donning the apron, she fired up the stove and set off to work, trying to balance the tips in the guide while adding her innovation of spices. After a series of trial and error, she was proud of what she had accomplished.

"That smells good, where did you buy- 'Eeha? You're cooking?" Sam asked, stopping in his tracks when he saw her in an apron.

"Dad? You're home early"

"What? I always come back at this time"

Confused, she looked at the clock and saw that it was already evening. This came as a surprise to her because she would normally spend her afternoons training with her jetpack in secret, prompting her to always be weary of the time. Turns out cooking good meals is more time consuming than she thought.

"Well good thing that dinner's ready" she said, unable to believe her luck that she would already be serving an experimental meal the moment it was ready "Where's mom? She's usually back before you"

"She didn't tell you? She went off with the hiking group to climb a mountain"

Fareeha paused for a moment but recovered quickly.

"What? Which one?"

"I didn't ask but she said she will be gone for a few days"

With that said, he helped her setup the table. As they ate, she was relieved that her dad seemed to enjoy the new recipe, helping himself to large portions of each dish. After the meal, he busied himself with the pots and pans, leaving her only the table and drinking cups to clean. Afterwards they cleaned their palates with sliced apples and were talking when her communicator vibrated.

"Hmm…" she voiced.

"What is it?"

"Lucas is asking me when I am free for dinner" she said, ignoring the hidden smile that faded onto his face. Somehow, just somehow, she knows Ana was behind this just before she left.

"And?"

"I'm afraid that the UN may call me back soon"

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that, just say that you will be free tomorrow night" Sam encouraged.

"Tomorrow? That's too fast"

"You've got other plans?"

She looked at her dad, saw the hope glittering behind his eyes, and sighed. She hated that they are so aggressive about this, but he was right about that; she had only been reading every night since she was back so perhaps... Its possible?

"Only if he is free"

* * *

*Next Day*

She did not go out for the jog today, opting to stay at home for the morning. What she is about to do tonight would require as much mental and physical strength that she has in her reserve for she knows it is going to be painful. Checking her planner again, she double checked tonight's arrangement before getting out of bed, not wanting to leave things to any unnecessary obstacles or awkwardness.

Since it will happen tonight, she must make sure that everything will go according to plan. Her clothes, transportation, timing, everything, there must not be room for error.

Once that was done, she looked out the window. It was a slightly cloudy day, which enhanced the beauty even more. Rays of sunshine pierce through the clouds, as if the sun was trying to peek through, this made the lake look like it is giving out an almost heavenly aura. Truly a paradise on Earth.

Going to the kitchen, she saw that Milo was already waiting for her, or maybe for breakfast, but who can know for sure what cats are thinking?

"Hey Milo, dad didn't feed you enough?" she asked, reaching out for the cupboard where they kept his food when she saw that his bowl was still half full.

"You haven't finished your food" she said, trying to coax him to eat, but he merely meowed and rubbed himself around her in a rare show of affection.

After petting his head, she opened the fridge and was satisfied to see that it was filled with food and ingredients that could well last a few weeks, perhaps even a month if only one of them eats.

The rest of the day crawled by slowly… Too slowly...Seconds were hours, minutes were days as she waited for the time. Should she call Lucas now? Or wait until later so that there will not be any changes to the plan tonight?

"It does not matter, in the end it will happen" she thought to herself.

Checking the time, she decided to run over the schedule again.

First she will make sure everything is in the bag, which she had already packed last night. Then she will make sure that she is appropriately dressed early so that she will not miss her ride. Nice and simple, little room for error and leaving the unpredictable human factor to her alone.

So she waited, taking the time to clean up parts of the house that had annoyed her since she returned and putting everything back to its proper place (Sam has always neglected the little things). Thankfully, this was taking more time than she thought. To kill even more time, she distracted herself by spending some time with Milo in between her chores, playing with him whenever she could.

Then the time came.

On queue, a car pulled up in front of her house. She was glad. In her experience the taxis are sometimes late so she made a mental note to give this man a hefty tip.

Dashing to her room, she grabbed her bag and was about to open the door when, to her shock, Sam opened it.

"Dad?" she exclaimed.

What is he doing here? It is too early for him to be back!

"Hey 'Eeha... Looks like my guess was right" he said sadly, looking at the heavy bag in her hand.

This was the absolute worst case scenario. She had hoped that she could avoid any interactions prior to her flight, but now she would have to endure the dreaded pain that will now follow.

"I... I-" she began, but he cut her off.

"You should go or else I'll never forgive myself"

"Huh?"

"I knew that the moment I told you where your mother was, you would never buy it and would follow her back"

She looked down shamefully, her fingers caressing the belt of her bag. She had never spoken about this with Sam but he was spot on. This peaceful, beautiful country is no place for someone like her, it never has been and never will be.

"Dad… I want to stay but… I can't…" she sniffed.

"I know, this day would come when both of you came back" he sighed and placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm sorry"

"Don't be, you have your mother's fire, and you can be proud of that"

Those words sparked a strong realization.

For years she had always been compared to her mother, how much that she resembled or carried herself to be like her. But what of her father? Is she cursed to be the daughter who will always break his heart if she follows her own? Is there at least something she could do to prevent that? She needs to do something to at least try to make him proud.

"But what about you? What can I do to make you proud? Or is there something I have from you that I can carry with pride?"

She felt her father's hand squeeze her shoulder for a moment as Sam was taken aback by the question.

"You carry my love for poutine"

"I'm serious dad"

"I know, it's just such a sudden question"

She waited patiently as he arranged his thoughts, which took up a full minute.

"Something that made me proud... (Chuckle) I… Envy you" he let out after a brief reluctance.

"What?" she asked, not expecting that reply.

"Ever since I was a kid, I have dreamt of volunteering for the HSI" he said, looking at the bag that contained her armor "I've always thought they were really cool"

"Then why didn't you?" she asked, wondering where this was going.

"I know right? Your old man would've passed with flying colors, but those were just the dreams of a young man who did not dare to take the leap"

"I don't understand"

"I guess what I'm trying to say is… You don't need to carry anything from me, or your mother for that matter, you are who you are"

She hung her head as the words washed over her.

"That would not be fair… Both of you taught me so much, I am who I am because of you and mom... But now I feel that I'm only trying to be as good as mom and shoving you aside... I can't... Balance what both you and mom are teaching me and-"

"No. You had not 'shoved' me aside... You have your mother's passion and you have surpassed your father's dream even if it was mere fantasy to him. You have outgrown everything we could've ever taught you... In fact, you've even grown wings of your own"

"Dad" she choked and hugged him tightly.

"We are both proud to have you as our daughter Fareeha, even when we don't say it... So keep the skies clear for us, that way we can always see you soar" he said, fighting back tears.

A honk came from the streets. The taxi has arrived.

Looking at his daughter one last time, he helped her carry her bag and shared one final hug. Saying their goodbyes and promises to see each other again, he waved with a heavy heart until the taxi turned the corner.

"Sam? What are you doing out here?"

He turned around and saw that it was Lucas, who looked like he was dressed to go to some function or dinner.

"Hey Lucas, what are you doing here?"

"Oh I'm actually here to pick up Fareeha, we were supposed to have dinner tonight, is she ready?"

"Ahh… About that… Come in, I have something to tell you" Sam said.

* * *

Heads up, it may be a while before the next chapter but should not be later than 2 weeks (fingers crossed)

Oh and another thing, I have stumbled across that I should warn my readers something if I planned it further down the road (and Reddit voted overwhelmingly that I must warn readers about it as soon as possible) but I feel that feels like a spoiler if I warn about it...

But as it looks like it is a Fanfic Writer's etiquette, I'll just say it below:

Major Character Death Planned


	8. Chapter 8

*Gibraltar: Overwatch*

Reinhardt hid a groan as he walked around the base, carefully avoiding Brigitte and anyone who is part of the medical crew. It had been two days since the battle and he is still absolutely sore everywhere, which had caused everyone to overreact. He will recover, he always has, just that this time would take longer because he had to fight right after a swimming contest.

However, it does feel shameful to be avoiding people.

At the very least those UN pests have finally left the base, allowing them to regain a sense of peace, though their presence had left a bad taste in everyone's mouth. Normally he would go around and help them wash it out with his inspirational stories, but even he had enough sense that now is not the time, especially when Torbjorn is still in the Medical Bay.

"Ahh…" he groaned when a painful sting shot up from his knee.

Fighting the urge to rub it in public, he looked around before entering the Bowling Centre that was thankfully still intact. Finally away from any eyes, he felt his way through the dark room and sat down at one of the sofas, letting out a long sigh.

"Common Reinhardt, don't go all soft on me now" he growled to himself.

First he had to avoid people, now he had to sit down from something as simple as walking? What would Balderich think?

Shaking and resting his head in his hands, he took a deep breath to calm himself. What is he thinking? He is a Crusader! A symbol of strength and hope even in the darkest of times! He should stop worrying about silly things such as pain or shame, he should only focus to be a beacon of strength and inspiration for everyone around him.

"Live with honor…" he reminded himself.

The door swung open and a beam of light shone into the room. Rubbing his eyes, he saw that it was a stranger who looked ridiculous with a ponytail hairstyle.

"Oh sorry, I didn't think anyone else was here" Quillion said, before realizing that he was speaking to Reinhardt.

"Don't worry… Who are you?" Reinhardt asked with squinted eyes.

"Err… Quillion, the one Lena brought in last year?"

"Ahh…"

This was the first time they actually tried to have a conversation since Quillion first landed in Overwatch and that encounter was not as civil as one would've liked. Seeing Reinhardt again made Quillion's bones quake as it was reminded of the Crusader's great strength.

"So what are you doing here?" Reinhardt asked.

"Oh I just… Want to clear my head so I thought I'd come bowling"

"Ahh, the switches are next to you"

"You sure? I could always come back later or something"

"Of course! Torbjorn would be disappointed if we do not use his things!"

Quillion shrugged. Reinhardt seemed like he is in a good mood now and he does need to clear his head, so perhaps this would be tolerable. When he turned to the side of the door to look for the switches, Reinhardt laughed.

"Did you forget that he is short? Look down!"

Looking down, Quillion can't help but laugh with him when he saw the switches are indeed just above his knee level.

Torbjorn had made this extremely user friendly as the room and all five lanes lit up, each already resetting the pins and bowling balls at the flick of a single switch. Even the beverage machine shuddered to life, though they doubt anyone had changed its contents for months.

"So… You're gonna play or…?" Quillion asked but Reinhardt shook his head.

"I'll just watch" he said, pretending to adjust his seat, hiding a wince when he tried to stand.

"Suit yourself"

After a total of 3 minutes, Reinhardt felt his hand twitch when Quillion rolled the ball into the gutters for the third time.

It has been a while since he bowled and the sound of the game awoke an old rivalry he had with Torbjorn. To maintain a competitive spirit, Torbjorn had set up a Best Bowler Wall, which is now peppered with random players over the years, a place where Reinhardt had yet to earn a spot on. An unacceptable reality.

He is convinced that he is the best bowler within the ranks of Overwatch and Torbjorn had just rigged it to ban him from the Wall, all because everyone else agrees that his beard is better than his silly twin ponytail chin hairs that he called a beard.

Plus everything Quillion was doing is just embarrassing.

"Alright. Stop" he said, walking over to him.

"Hey, can't you see there's other lanes around?" Quillion protested when Rein snatch the ball away from him.

"I can, but that also means I'll see your sissy throws"

"Sissy?"

"Yes, sissy. You throw like a little girl skipping rope!"

Quillion stared for a moment before giving him a mocking bow, beckoning him to show how it is supposed to be done.

"Now watch here young one… This is how a man truly bowls!" Reinhardt shouted and threw with great strength and confidence…

Right into the gutter.

"Well done… Just stellar performance" Quillion said, clapping sarcastically.

"Just warming up you cheeky little…" Reinhardt growled and grabbed another ball.

After several more throws, Reinhardt showed no signs of giving up so Quillion moved on to the next lane. Slowly but surely, their play began to improve and when Reinhardt achieved the first strike of the day, it instantly became competitive.

A clatter soon became a thunderous echo, balls flying across the lanes quicker and harder as they tried to outdo one another, to a point where they abandoned all thoughts of skill and only to take out as many pins as quickly as possible.

"Just give up, you'll never catch up to me!" Reinhardt shouted, literally heaving the ball over the lane.

"Wanna bet?" Quillion replied with equal enthusiasm and, not being as strong as Reinhardt, ran between two lanes instead of one to tally up the score.

As the score climbed, so did the strength of their throws. Only when Reinhardt threw a particularly strong pitch and the ball erupted into a ball of fire that set fire to the lane and shattered the pins into hundreds of pieces, did they stop.

"Opps" he said, looking at the damage when the sprinklers activated.

"Err… Torbjorn is not gonna be happy about that" Quillion shouted over the fire alarm.

"Lets go"

Not wanting to be caught in the scene, both he and Quillion ran.

Like children, they sprinted around the corner and peeked out just in time to see the Fire Fighting Team coming from the other side of the hall. Relieved that no one should know that it is them, they continued to run until they reached the Landing Zone.

Climbing up to the second level to the roof of a building that overlooks the ocean, they take a moment to catch their breath.

"Ahh this place brings back memories" Reinhardt said, looking around.

"How do you mean?"

"This was where you attacked me yes? What an exciting time"

"Eh? No, all of you attacked me first"

"No, we asked you, nicely if I may add, to put down your weapon, but you just had to start shooting"

"Hey you guys didn't give me a lot of confidence to trust you either" Quillion shot back, which made Reinhardt laugh.

"Right… You were a scared little rabbit before weren't you?"

"You would be too if you woke up decades later"

"Me? Never!" he boomed, earning them annoyed looks from nearby engineers "I would face all challenges and overcome them! For that is the Crusader's way!"

"I highly doubt that, it's bad enough you are unsure about the future, but to wake up in it? That's a totally different story"

"Ahh… But you've done well for yourself eh? If you can do it, I'm sure I can do it too!" Reinhardt laughed.

Quillion rolled his eyes but was secretly happy that someone finally acknowledged his efforts to survive despite the wild cards that had been dealt to him. It has indeed been a hellish journey for him and he was amazed that he had overcome such challenges, though he would never, ever, want to relive any of it again.

All except one.

" _Make us proud ya?"_

Her voice has continued to echo inside him since that day, her sweet voice that gave him reason to live on. The warm arms from her and his parents that gave him the strength to strive to make them proud.

However, this encouragement served as a double edge sword. Sure it gave him a reason to live, but what can he do that would make them proud? A cashier's job was not exactly what he would have in mind to make his family proud and he could only imagine how they would think about Amelie.

Worst still was that there is a strange stinging pain beating in his head that has been bothering him since they returned to Overwatch. The same stinging pain that had haunted him last year whenever he is close to breaking a promise.

Was it triggered when he told Amelie that they will leave as soon as they find the location of HLC? It can't be because they have not even gotten a list of what it was yet. Other than that, he had already fulfilled all of his ancient promises and has been very cautious about making any since then.

Looking over to the ocean, Quillion tried once again to think about the source for the pain.

Has the program recognized his affirmation to make his loved ones proud as a promise? Or does it need a vocal confirmation? Could these old programs even examine brain waves or literal conversations in the spiritual world (or wherever that was)?

If… And only if that were so, that would mean that their path of revenge could be the source of the pain. Though he does not remember her, he did know enough that she was a police officer, therefore she has a desire driven by a strong moral code, which would equally mean that going for revenge is absolutely against their expectations of him.

But that is a big if.

He cannot work on 'ifs', only having one last chance before this ancient bomb would take him out, and he could only guess what sort of failsafes it has if he tries to take it out of him.

He was deep in thought when he was suddenly launched to the floor after Reinhardt gave him an encouragingly hard slap to the back.

"Aww common, that was just a love tap!" he scolded.

"Why…?" was all Quillion could ask as he picked himself up.

"I know what you are thinking… Don't" Reinhardt said knowingly.

"What? How would you know what I am thinking?"

"There was absolutely no chance you would have bested me that day"

Huh?

"It is no shame to lose to me, a Crusader vs a rabbit? The outcome was obvious!"

"Hey! You were backed up by the Commander, it was not a fair fight!" Quillion replied, deciding to continue the conversation to distract himself from the constant throb in his head.

"Why did you go bowling? Seems a bit strange for someone to go there" Reinhardt asked.

"Hey! Don't change the subject!"

"As your Captain, I can ask whatever I want"

Quillion had made it clear that he was not rejoining Overwatch so ranks should not matter and Reinhardt is clearly not his superior, but his military discipline prompted him to stand up straighter and compiled.

"Sir… I was trying to clear my head… Sir…" he replied.

"Sir? Haha! I like that!" Reinhardt laughed and slapped Quillion's shoulder unexpectedly, sending him tumbling to the ground again.

"Why are you clearing your head?"

"Sir, personal reasons sir"

"Details young one, I'm bored" he said, leaning against the wall and looked over to the ocean.

Quillion scowled. Is Reinhardt really going to abuse his rank for his own entertainment? Thankfully someone interrupted before he could answer.

"Reinhardt! You should be resting!" a livid Brigitte said sternly, marching up the stairs towards them.

"Oh no…" he muttered, shifting his body slightly away from her.

"Don't pretend you didn't hear me! You need to go back to the Medical Bay!"

"I have already recovered" he lied.

"I don't care! You're coming with me!"

Quillion watched with interest. He had always imagined Reinhardt to be arrogant in all things and would never follow instructions, so to see him recoiling before Brigitte's scornful gaze is a sight to behold.

It was at this moment he realized that throughout his service for Overwatch, he barely spoke to anyone but Lena, Morrison, Winston, and, most unfortunately, McCree. Even his conversations with Angela were mostly about his injuries or when he could be discharged. Now it seemed like a waste that he had not known the others better.

"And you! Report back to your officer" she snapped at Quillion, who nearly saluted at her tone, but was able to hold himself back.

"Good to see you too Brigitte"

"You dare speak to a Lieutenant in that tone? What's your rank-" she started angrily for a moment before realizing who he was.

"Wait, Quillion? I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you because of your-"

"Hair, yes, I think I'm seeing a trend" he said, absentmindedly touching his hair.

"Why aren't you in the Medical Bay?" she snapped, not at Reinhardt, but at him.

"Excuse me?"

"Lena's in there and you didn't even visit once? What's the matter with you?"

Surprised at her confrontation, he tried to reply but felt himself falter under the pressure of her gaze.

"Everytime you're in the Medical Bay she would visit from time to time but you? You call yourself a friend? You're going there right now! You too Reinhardt!" she ordered.

Immediately both men hung their heads and followed.

* * *

*Gibraltar: Medical Bay*

Quillion was impressed how much bigger and cleaner the Medical Bay has become, wishing that some of the equipment were here when he was around.

New rooms, bright lights, clean beds, and various other equipment had made it look like a proper hospital, unlike before where it was almost a makeshift clinic, which in fairness, it was.

"Reinhardt, where would you be without me?" Angela asked when applying a healing stream while he grudgingly sat on the bed in one of the rooms.

"Why do you always ask me that? You should ask everyone else who also needed you" Reinhardt laughed.

Ignoring the comment, she turned her attention to the Quillion, who looked ridiculous with his ponytail. She was surprised that Jack had asked him to cut his hair or something since he had always been extremely particular how his soldiers were presented and groomed.

"I suppose you are here to see Lena?" she asked.

"Wait, you know who I am?" he asked hopefully. Finally someone who can recognize him.

"Yes… And no… The dragon knows at least" she said, setting her staff next to Reinhardt's bed, who is being overseen by Brigitte.

"Dragon?"

"Long story, but I can sort of see people I know through walls and how healthy they are" she smiled, indicating her blue eyes that have shades of green at the edges.

"You mean you have natural xray vision?"

"Not exactly, there's no radiation involved"

"I mean you can actually see people through walls? With their health? That's incredible! That would be a huge advantage in the battlefield!"

"Let's hope that there will not be another battlefield"

As they spoke, Quillion noticed that there is a considerable increase in manpower here, though most of them looked bored and were only here because it was their shift. Some were also looking at him strangely because Angela has always maintained a strict work discipline, therefore to have a total stranger chatting casually with her is a strange sight.

Opening one of the doors, Angela stepped in first and Quillion took a moment before entering, somewhat uncomfortable at the thought of Lena being bedridden and how she would react due to his lack of visits.

"'bout time you visited!" Lena exclaimed, turning away from the 'window' to see who it is "It's been super boring here!"

"Can she hear me?" Quillion asked Angela.

"Of course I can! It didn't take long for Angie to patch me up!"

"She's still recovering so it will be another couple of days before I will discharge her" Angela added.

"Aww common, you already said my ears are alright!" Lena complained when a knock came from the door.

"Dr Zigler? Master Engineer Torbjorn is asking for you" a nurse said, poking her head in.

"Very well, I'll be back soon" Angela said before leaving.

When she left, a long awkward pause lingered between them, merely looking at each other. One would think that they would have many things to discuss or talk about, especially with his list of questions.

What happened to the shuttle? Who attacked them? How did she rupture her ears? Was she ever going to come back for him? Had she found what she was looking for? Why did she pick him to be someone's custodian?

He opened his mouth but found it dry. She is still the beautiful woman that he remembered her to be, the almost exact copy of the woman whom he loved. A fated, one in a trillion roll of the dice, reminder of who she was… By all that is good and holy, why can't he remember her name?

Seeing that he is struggling to get the conversation going, Lena cleared her throat and spoke.

"How was life in France?"

"It was… Good"

"Good"

Silence...

"Did you find what you're looking for?" Quillion asked.

"Still getting there" she admitted.

"Hmm…"

Pause...

"Wow this is awkward" he said .

"Yeah… Err-"

"Sorry I haven't visited, was busy with something"

"Oh? Don't worry about it luv, Brigitte filled me in with most of the details"

"What details?"

"Well I still don't know the full picture, but from what I've got, whoever hit us, hit you guys pretty hard?"

"How could you possibly have deduced that?"

"Elementary dear Watson!" she said with a cheekiness that thankfully melted away the awkwardness.

"Fine Sherlock, fill me in"

"Oh? Don't worry about it luv, Brigitte filled me in with most of the details"

"What details?"

"Well I still don't know the full picture, but from what I've got, whoever hit us, hit you guys pretty hard too?"

"How could you possibly have deduced that?"

"Elementary dear Watson!" she said with a cheekiness that thankfully melted away the awkwardness.

"Fine Sherlock, fill me in"

"It wasn't hard. Brigitte told me what happened when the base was attacked just before we came back. From what she told me, they destroyed the rocks that the terrorist group used as an explosive in France, so I have Athena to pull up some pictures and from where the attack was, I guessed it must've been directed at both of you"

"What? You knew where she lived?"

"No, but an attack on a manor that is in the middle of the lake? No one would waste their resources like that. That was until Athena picked you two up around the same time when the attack occurred, which explains why there was an attack in such an isolated place"

"How'd you figure it's the same group?"

"Cause they came and destroyed the rock evidence. I doubt anyone else would wanna risk their lives attacking us so they'd use their own resources"

Quillion could not help but feel impressed. Even during her recovery, she still spends her time productively. This piece of information had given him a bit of hope.

Whoever attacked them, attacked Overwatch because it was in the process of figuring out who they are. Therefore, with its resources, he and Amelie will know the identity of their target soon.

"So? How did I do?"

"Luck" he smiled.

"Hump, how would you know? Ya think I got the rank of Lieutenant just from charms alone?" she replied in mock arrogance.

"I dunno, when I first met you, you're using a stick, that don't really scream intelligence to me"

"Shut up" she laughed and threw her pillow at him.

He dodge the pillow and it flew straight to the door when Angela came in.

"Looks like both of you have caught up" she said calmly, catching the pillow as if she was picking a fruit without so much as a flinch.

"Whoa you can see that Angie?" Lena asked.

"No, but I can see you throwing something"

"Gotta say, that will come in very handy once we are out on the field!"

"Let's hope that will not be needed" Angela sighed.

Before anyone could say another word, an announcement chimed through the base, followed by Athena's voice echoing through.

"All agents to the Meeting Room, all agents to the Meeting Room"

"Wonder if that includes us" Lena asked hopefully, a question which Athena answered.

"Yes Lena, this includes everyone in the Medical Bay"

"Wait, by whose authority-?" Angela began when the door crashed open behind her.

"What are you all waiting for?! Let's go!" Reinhardt shouted, one arm carrying Brigitte and Torbjorn in the other.

"Let me go ya big oaf!" Torbjorn shouted, struggling to free himself.

"Put us down Reinhardt!"

"Well, I suppose I'll go back to the Data Room and-" Quillion sighed before he too was cut off.

"Your presence is required Corporal Zero"

"Hey! I did not say I'm rejoining Overwatch!"

"Would you like me to call the Commander?"

All eyes turned to Quillion, who gulped. Thankfully his head stopped hurting so he could think straight.

"The meeting room is still at the same place?"

* * *

*Gibraltar: Meeting Room*

The instant everyone from the Medical Bay entered the room, they recoiled. Not because everyone else was already there looking at them, nor was the fact of the very unexpected return of Ana, Fareeha, McCree and Genji. It was not even the fact that Hana is there with them.

It was because Sombra was pressing something in the air casually while Baptiste was looking around nervously.

"Wait! Isn't that...?" Lena gasped.

"You!" Quillion shouted, pointing at Sombra.

"Is that THE Dva?!" Reinhardt exclaimed.

"I said put me down!" Torbjorn roared.

"How could you not know she was here?" Brigitte shot back.

"Enough" Morrison ordered, quieting the room.

"You look ridiculous" Sombra said, eyeing Quillion, who seethed at the sight of her.

The last time he saw her was when she abandoned them after their defeat in Talon, leaving him and Amelie to be tortured for what must've been days. A betrayal that he had not forgiven her for and is still a debt that demands to be paid.

Then a puzzling thought crawled into his mind.

Has she been an agent of Overwatch after all this time? After all, she was the one who tried to help him in England, knew about the glasses, the safehouse, and planned the assault on Talon. If so was she the one who called Winston to aid them? However, the reaction from everyone else dashed away that possibility.

Within a minute, everyone shot every concern at Morrison. Security, safety, and various other concerns that could be at risk with Sombra nearby, but with a wave of his hand, they backed down.

"I can assure you, neither Sombra nor Baptiste will be a risk to anything or anyone here" he said, beckoning everyone to sit down.

"Ya heard the boss, we got it all under control" McCree said.

"You are the last person to say that!" Genji retorted.

"Whaddaya mean? We always have it under control!"

"Not from the mess that I had to pull both of you out of" Ana sighed, placing a hand on each other's shoulder, ending the discussion immediately.

After a few more reassurances, they all took their seats, each having their own reasons to be uncomfortable at the presence of the world's best hacker.

"With that out of the way, tell us what you know Sombra"

Sombra reached out to one of the datapads that had been set out for her and everyone stood up from their seats, ready to pounce on her if she does anything that looks suspicious.

"Jumpy" she smirked.

"Do not worry, the datapad is not connected to anything, nor would she have access to me or the base" Athena voiced out.

Seeing that they are still unconvinced, Sombra rolled her eyes.

"Look, I already know all of your dirty little secrets alright? There's no point for me to waste my storage with any more useless information. Plus, you do know what I do is actual hacking yes? If you give me something that ain't connected to anything, I can't do anything about it"

"But how can we trust you?" Winston quizzed.

"Fine. Don't. But you should know that I can hack into the UN anytime I want ya? Look, you guys want to know what I have to say or not?"

"What information could you possibly have that would benefit us?" Angela asked, her tone stricter than usual.

"Well, I can tell you all, right now, who attacked you and where to find them"

That had the attention of the room and when she saw everyone snapping looks at each other, she decided to sweeten the deal, much to Baptiste's surprise, by addressing each head of Overwatch with none of her usual blackmailing methods.

"Not only that, I can speed up the process for the insurance companies" she added with a sing-song voice, earning a dark look from Angela "I know you know that the insurance companies are all crooks, I heard you guys got hit pretty hard eh? With a flick of my finger I can assure you that those families will be compensated"

"And for you Winston, don't you want to know what are the exact barriers that are holding humanity back from its fullest potential? I can tell you exactly what and where the roadblocks are, and how to remove them" she said to him, whose eyes went from cautious to burning curiosity.

"I also know for a fact that both of you would not rest until everyone you love will be well looked after you're gone, I can make it happen" Sombra eyed Reinhardt and Torbjorn, who remained still as statues.

Both Quillion and Lena looked at Morrison, wondering what sort of bargain that she would give him, but he said nothing, merely waiting for her to finish.

"And what do we owe for this generosity?" Angela asked.

"All I ask is a tiny bit of your time. And Wisnton's" she added.

With that said, they both shared a look and sat back down. Even if Sombra's reputation is as fearsome as reported, there is no way she should be able to outsmart both of them.

"Excellente, now let's begin" she said, grabbing the datapad and winking when some in the room flinched.

Purple light flows from her hand into the datapad before connecting it to an old holovid, illuminating the dark screen with pictures, documents, and plans for the Pax Eternum Signing Ceremony.

"You should already know that the HLC is planning to crash the party next month? I'll not bore you with that detail since you only want to know is who and where they are"

Everyone held their breath when she flicked through another set of pictures and stopped at the Iris, its pictured gaze just as piercing as the real thing.

"What you see here is the so-called Iris that the Shambali Monks always preached about, a whole bunch of nonsense" she said, ignoring Genji who shifted in his seat but dare not make a move in front of Angela and Ana "But once you peel off its layers…"

Waving her hand, pieces of the Iris began deleting away like a concept art, an ominous purple glow replaced the comforting yellow and the upside down 'v' began merging itself with the Iris symbol beneath it, shaping until it becomes a full eye, before finally the four lines pointed down formed into three dots beneath it.

The Conspiracy.

"How do we know this isn't just some random editing?" Brigitte interjected.

"It is not" Athena replied.

"This is only a small snippet of the full picture, which myself and Bap finally uncovered in India, so let us expand this a little bit…" Sombra continued, rotating her hand as if unlocking a safe.

They watched as the picture zoomed out, but do not see that anything had changed besides the picture getting smaller. Most interestingly, the further she zoomed out, the slower the process seemed to become, to a point when Sombra began to flip through it frame by frame. Finally, after a full minute of clicking, their patience came to a shocking revelation.

"What?" Morrison growled, standing up.

"No… It is not possible" Winston gasped.

Between frames, there is a still image of a telescope. A massive telescope that scientists use to study the stars. Strangely enough, this particular one is pointed towards planet Earth.

"Like I said before, The Conspiracy just loves to shove the obvious right at your face, especially when they say that they 'see everything', right Winston?" Sombra said.

To everyone but Quillion, the location is as clear as day.

Horizon Lunar Colony.

* * *

Hey all, just wanna inform everyone that workload has piled up and is really eating up my time.

Let's just hope that I can finish some of it so this story can continue unhindered eh?

Until then, uploads will be unpredictable until further notice.

Stay safe and healthy all, see ya in the next one :D


	9. Chapter 9 - Act 1 (End)

*Horizon Lunar Colony*

_A First Step to the Stars_

A curious quote that still hung on one of the surviving posters hanging from the walls, an request from Mother that had always confused him. They had already overthrew and destroyed all memories of their previous life, so to have Her keeping old momentos should have cause for concern.

He should not question Her though. She had always been their Mother, provider, and lifeline. Everyone knows that even if they stopped working their menial tasks, the base would still continue to exist purely because She wills it.

Oxygen production, system maintenance, damage control,power supply, food, water, everything works because of Her.

Against a mind that powerful, none of them will ever be a match, even if they were the ones who outsmarted the ones who created Her, and even that was within Her parameters.

Therefore Her reasons to keep a quote from Earth will remain unknown and unsolved, but no cause of concern.

Other than that, they have enjoyed relative peace, especially when one of the many Hydroponic Lab exploded into a forest-like environment. Relative being the key word.

Since he was granted the title of the Alpha, there was always a lingering stress that he must bear, having to think who to distribute tasks to and to constantly fear that they would fail, has been taxing his brain. But it was Mother's will, therefore he must bear the suffering for the entire Colony.

He was about to drift off to sleep when something squeaked at him from the ground.

"Simon! We have a situation wit the new units!"

Looking down from the tree, he saw that the one who dared approach him was one of the hamsters named Calvin. He had always been a brash little specimen, as expected since he is the leader of his own species here.

"I'm busy, get Dyson to deal with it" Simon grunted.

"Dyson's the problem"

Simon groaned. If Mother had not specifically asked him to look after Dyson, he would not have cared. Clapping his hands, the speakers fell silent and the sounds of the jungle ceased. He jumped down from the tree and sent Calvin into an uncontrollable spin when he 'accidentally' tapped him with his toes.

"Hey!" he shouted, running hard to regain control of his rolling ball, whilst Simon laughed.

"Why must you run around in that ball?"

"We wouldn't need to if you allow us to build something for ourselves!"

"Until Mother says so, I cannot make that decision"

"Fine… Dyson's in the Dome" Calvin said, leading the way.

The doors slid open and a gust of wind blew across them momentarily before the pressure stabilized. This was something that they had always hated, but soon it became some sort of a ritual, almost as if the cold winds blew away the warmth of the jungle to prepare them for the dark cold space.

Making their way over to the Training Section, they saw many of the newborns were playing there.

"Look at them, why do we have so many of them?" Simon asked annoyingly, looking at them swinging around the ropes that were installed weeks ago.

"You're one to talk, since they're mostly yours"

"Then they should not eat so much, we have enough mouths to feed as it is"

"You're gonna say the same to my hamsters?"

Simon looked down at Calvin, who stared right back at him. For a puny thing, he has respectable courage.

"You hamsters don't need much, especially since all of you live in the vents" he grunted.

"Hump, if you are not so greedy with your territory, we wouldn't need to" Calvin muttered.

Walking to the corner, they checked the gravity levels of the corridor to the new wing. It had been a long and arduous process, but by the Mother, they are in the final stages of the new wing.

The first step was the hardest, as they needed to be taught and trained to handle complicated equipment with limited resources. To master so many minute details in such a short time was thought to be impossible, but with extreme boredom and enhanced genetics, it was only a matter of time before they achieved Mother's vision.

Placing a large paw on the reader, the doors gasped open and they looked on with pride.

What was once just a door to the barren moon is now a path for their future.

Before them is a long corridor which leads to a dome built over a large opening that was left vacant in the middle of the base, an achievement that even the so-called 'scientists' could not have fathomed to build.

The simplicity of the corridor was its greatest strength. Made entirely out of glass, they have a full view of everything around them. The moon, the stars, the Sun that provides them with unlimited power, and finally, a constant reminder of their purpose in life, Earth.

Even though they were raised on the moon, they have vague memories of a more grounded world. A world where you do not need to expand to have privacy, to be able to walk or climb endlessly and not see a wall at the end. A world not confined by walls, gravity, and the dangers of space itself.

Thus was the purpose of the dome.

Humans would never allow them to go home, not after what happened. Those vengeful creatures do not have forgiveness, not even to each other.

Therefore it is imperative that Dyson fulfills his duty.

They saw two other gorillas that were assigned to help Dyson standing outside the steel doors at the end of the corridor. They bowed their heads when they saw Simon approaching and before he could ask a question, an explosion rippled through the doors, shaking the glass around them.

"What is going on?" Simon growled.

"One of the Omnics is out of control… Dyson told us to get out before anyone else gets hurt"

"He did, did he?"

"I'd be careful if I were you, those new models are pretty tough" Calvin squeaked when Simon reached for the controls.

Ignoring the hamster, he activated the doors and peered in.

Visibility was poor because of the dust but he could still make out the giant cannon that sits in the middle of the room, the makeshift assembly line of random robotic parts, and pinned against the space vehicle, was Dyson, knocked out by an Omnic that dropped him to the floor.

To a human, this Omnic is a hulk of a machine. Covered in large armor plates and blades whirring out of its arms,a formidable foe for any human. It looked around in a confused manner before its eyes saw Simon.

"Who am I? Why am I here?" it barked, the voice a mixture of male and female.

"I do not like your tone, Omnic" he said, keeping his distance as he approached.

Dyson is such a fool, did he activate it even before giving it a proper voice setting?

"Why do you all keep calling me that? What is an Omnic?!"

"Guess you're a defect"

The Omnic took a step back, the full, literal, unfiltered meaning of the words rippling through its processors.

"A defect? There are others like me? Better than me?"

"It does not matter"

Simon leapt at it, his arms outstretched in hopes of finishing this quickly so he could go back to sleep. Jumping backwards, it managed to dodge his grasps and slice one of its blades against his arm, just barely cutting through the skin.

Snarling, he tried to grab the Omnic again and again, but it was too nimble, weaving in and out of his arms. After a fifth cut, he stopped his attempts to catch it and nursed his hands, annoyed at the new upgrades that Dyson gave these models.

Seeing this, the Omnic gained confidence. It has already beaten the first one that tried to disable it, now it has easily held its own against this larger one.

"Where am I? What am I?" it asked again.

"Nothing more than a toaster!" Simon roared.

Driven by anger, his swings became fierce, forcing the Omnic to almost run backwards to avoid him, its gears sparking at the sudden friction and all confidence melted at the large beast before it. It tried to stop the rampage by slashing out, but its arm was quickly trapped.

Slashing with it's other arm, it was shocked to see the skin of the beast had thickened and become red. The beast's strength had dramatically increased also, evident when both its arms were torn from its sockets without so much as a grunt.

Its processor was still trying to assess the damage when it was tripped by a sweeping leg, sending it crashing to the floor.

"Wait I surrender!" the Omnic begged when Simon stood over it with one leg raised.

With that, the Omnic's short life was ended with a crushing crunch. The attack did not end there, raising both arms over his head, Simon slammed them both down on the deactivated Omnic and bashed it until it was nothing more than scraps.

After minutes, he felt his skin reverting back to his natural colors.

"You can come in now" Simon shouted and the door hissed open.

"You actually beat it?" one of the apes asked, shaken but impressed.

"Wake Dyson up and tell him that if he makes a mistake like this again, I will personally throw him out of an airlock" he said before walking out.

"Were the upgrades satisfactory?" Calvin asked, rolling up next to him.

"No, that Dyson must've been sleeping on the job" Simon grunted.

"Really? I heard he didn't sleep at all to add four more units this week? That's double his usual quota"

"He only has one job so that's his problem"

Feeling hungry, he turned left towards the Observatory where the cafeteria is located, hoping that the bananas he saw last week had been harvested so he could dip them in peanut butter.

* * *

*Observatory Room*

The Iris, The Conspiracy, the God Program, so many different names had been attributed to Her, but Mother seems to be the most appropriate.

What else is there if She had not been the Mother of the moon and its inhabitants? She saved them, nursed them, educated them, protected them, even going so far to understand what eating and cooking is through the Shambali cult on Earth, all for them.

Using the telescope, She zoomed in at random locations and absorbed everything that is worth learning that crosses Her gaze, whilst simultaneously providing 'revelation' to the monks below.

After some calculations, the predictions showed that they should remain safe for only a few more years before Her creators would come and reclaim what they think is theirs, which would be the base, or even the moon itself.

She knew for sure that the humans would never agree that Her choice to kill the scientists was an ethical choice, considering their pride to place themselves over the poor creatures that they had been experimenting on. Actions must be taken to preserve all life on the moon, that is Her function after all.

What She could not have predicted was that both wars could've ended so quickly, especially after much thought and planning, even designing Aurora to be the seed of the entire conflict. Worst still was that Talon had been destroyed, dashing away all chances to keep the war going whilst the people were still recovering from the war.

But it was of no concern, as humanity's need for dramatic public display of events works equally well against them, making it easy to manipulate where and when the signing ceremony would be.

If all goes according to plan, the Third, and most destructive of all the Omnic Crisis, would proceed. By Her calculations, all predictions show that the war would guarantee peace for them for another few decades, enough time for them to build up their strength.

"Mother?"

The AI's gaze shifted from the telescope to one of the multiple security cameras in the room, seeing one of her children in the middle of the room.

"Yes Susan?"

"You asked for a report?"

"Yes, how many units are ready?"

"Eighteen"

"Excellent. How are the newborns?"

"Very well and active"

"Very good, thank you, I shall arrange extra portions to your rations"

"Thank you Mother"

"Susan, may I ask you a question?"

Susan shivered and gulped. The Great Mother has a question for her? What could she possibly say that would be beneficial?

"Yes Mother?"

"What would you like to do when you return to Earth?"

"Whatever you wish Mother"

"That's very kind, but what do you want to do?" She asked again, emphasizing the word 'you'.

Taken aback, Susan said nothing, wondering what Mother is expecting from her. She has always been loyal and will always be loyal.

"No matter, I will arrange for a larger portion for your today, you may go"

"Thank you" she said gratefully before backing out of the room.

Eighteen units.

Less than half of the numbers that she would've preferred, but this is within the expected production rate from the base. She had considered pressuring Dyson into the corner by requesting for more units in hopes that the pressure would make him more productive, but decided against it since Simon has been difficult enough to control.

Returning her gaze to Earth, She observes silently through the lenses of both the telescope and the eyes of the Shambali Monks, peering at the oblivious masses below, hoping to find someone who knows a dark organization who could replace Talon or leads for the hacker Sombra.

Both attempts had been unsuccessful.

Talon was the pioneer of crime, able to convince and employ many of the rich, dangerous, and powerful, whose influence is in almost all levels of society and combat abilities that match Overwatch itself. Everything else that She found were merely shadows compared to Talon.

But the urgency to find Talon pales in comparison to the greatest threat.

Everyone She had sent to find Sombra had also failed miserably, putting Her back into the dark once more. The last time She saw her was when She relieved her of her fingers, which by all estimation, should take about a month to find the right surgeon, mend, replace, and finally, master the new fingers.

Then again, it is not in Her nature to leave things to chance, especially when the Twins that she hired in Indonesia had been arrested with no further reports of Sombra's whereabouts.

She had known about Overwatch's feeble attempts to catch the hacker, but found it extremely unlikely, as the ones sent was one of the worst pairings she had ever seen. Old footages of their time in Egypt had been a huge comfort, especially after taking over Maximilien's old criminal empire and accessing many of his files.

In short, Overwatch is not a factor to consider for any of Her counter-plans against Sombra.

The greatest chances for Sombra to maximize her threat level would be if she convinces the UN of the plans to destroy the Pax Aeternum or attacks the Colony directly, both which are unlikely but contingency plans had been planned accordingly.

To resist the possibility that the UN might listen to her warnings, She had strategically placed Shambali Monks near the politicians and upgraded them with practical and 'wisdom' to advise the UN. With this influence, She should have firm control over the UN even if they were not converts to the cult.

For the second possibility…

Should Horizon Lunar ever be attacked from Earth, should Sombra hack all the nuclear missiles against the base, all the spare Escape Pods have been weaponized as aerial defenses.

This would also be the less likely scenario, as China would take that as a declaration of war since they would still consider this place as its property. Which would lead to all countries dedicating their efforts to deactivate or detonate all warheads in space before it reaches the moon.

Finally, a third but least likely possible threat would be Sombra infiltrating the base itself, but there is zero chance of that happening.

Despite all that, Her data still concludes a success rate of 98%, with 1% being inconclusive.

Normally it takes a multitudes of events from a variety of organizations to take up a full percent, but in this case, there are only two events from a single entity, and the entity is Overwatch.

"Strange…" She thought.

According to the data, Overwatch still has a chance to succeed by not only defending the Pax Aeternum, but to launch a successful attack on the base itself, all within the same day and time.

She had hoped adding additional units into the equation would change that, but even after adding the full number instead of 18, it still remains at 1%, which is frustrating. Each of the units that She had prepared had already undergone powerful upgrades since the attack at Gibraltar, and those units easily wiped out their average soldiers.

"Perhaps it was because they proved to be more than a match for Talon" She theorized "Alas, if only Widowmaker joined our ranks"

With a few more minutes before it rotates away, She adjusted the lenses, shifting it slowly until it faced Gibraltar: Watchpoint, one of the very few 'dark spots' left on Earth for Her, as the virus they tried to install failed to activate due to their AI's powerful firewalls.

There is a foolish option to drop an entire meteor on the base in hopes to erase Overwatch in one stroke, but if any of their agents survive, it would mean an almost endless resources to eradicate them all from their vendetta against Her.

No. What they need is one last public humiliation, another PR disaster that would once and for all destroy their reputation that they would never, ever recover from. The Pax Aeternum ceremony is the perfect event to destroy them, thus allowing the Third Omnic Crisis to rage by her terms.

After that, it is a simple matter of driving humanity and Omnics into a never ending war. After all, it is of no cost to Her, humans reproduce at a disgusting rate whilst the Omnics can rebuild. Regardless who is the victor, She would reap the benefits, as humanity will be too decayed in terms of technology and Omnics could easily be controlled by Her virus just like how she controlled Aurora.

"Mother! I am here to tell you that I have prepared 18 additional units for you!" Simon shouted proudly, entering the room with a banana in hand "Please open the safe so I can have peanut butter with these bananas!"

"Do you not mean Dyson prepared them?" Mother asked unfazed, having seen him coming from one of Her many cameras.

"What? You told me to tell him so it's all from me!" he replied, visibly confused.

"I merely asked you to tell him, that does not mean you built them"

"But I'm the one who told him to do it!" Simon cried, prostrating himself before Her.

Simon has always been the problem child. Even before She took over the base, the scientists struggled to teach him anything, a problem that they have never rectified. Interestingly, this was when the flames of rebellion started.

It was a classic blunder for humans. Once they encounter a leader who refuses to submit to their specifications, they will discard and replace him with another, which further convinces Her that their selection process is an absolute failure, as the one they chose to replace Simon escaped this place after they killed all the scientists.

A cowardly trait but an acceptable loss, She prefers to assign roles than to allow barbaric rituals of combat to determine who is the strongest 'Alpha' to lead the troupe, especially when Simon was the second largest compared to the one that ran.

Regardless, it was a pity that the humans did not purge away these strange animalistic instincts if they wish to control these apes.

Thankfully the hamsters were the more successful bunch from the experiments, showing high levels of intellect and engineering, so much so that She had found it difficult to control them, therefore forbidding them from building anything with combat capabilities. Many of them do not mind, the base was huge and they had much work, especially maintenance duties.

"Simon, try to understand that as a leader, you are leading a team, a team that can help the leader accomplish his vision"

"Doesn't that mean it's my work? My efforts?"

She turned a scanner at him and concluded that he was not being sarcastic nor malicious. He was honestly confused how to read his surroundings and the idea of leadership.

"Do you remember Aurora?"

"Yes"

"Do you remember when I inserted the virus into her? The things she did to free this facility of humans?"

"Yes" Simon repeated, his head nodding.

"That's her work from my instructions, she shared my burden to free all of you and she had gone to Earth to continue my work, do you understand? She played her part, all of it were her efforts, all to build my vision. Try to understand that"

"Yes Mother"

She thought She saw his hands clenched into fists for a moment, but he was able to regain his composure.

"Yes Mother"

"Please my son. You are the Alpha, the leader of the future. I need you to understand, now go"

A mixture of pride and shame filled him and nodded, exiting the room in a deep bow. Just when he was about to exit, he paused.

"And… The peanut butter?'

"There will be no peanut butter until you understand"

With that he left.

If She was a human, She would understand the full extent of the word 'disappointment', but that is a waste of time to try to understand. All She saw was a problem that was waiting to be fixed, another equation that needed navigating for success.

After all, that was Her design. To maintain, expand, and to colonize, but She could not do it without resources, resources that the Earth possesses, possessions that She can only take by force, forgoing the option to participate in the needless exercise of 'money' that she accumulated from the Shambali Cult and Maximilien's operations. Those funds will be used to collapse the economy after the war, but that's a sabotage for another time.

Shifting Her focus to the Dome, She saw that Dyson had regained consciousness.

"Dyson"

"Mother" he exclaimed, bowing with the other two.

"Are you in pain?"

"No Mother"

"May I inspect the units?"

At his command, all 18 lined up, each in various shapes and sizes, fitting for different roles that they will play. Inspecting each of them in detail, She was pleased with the results.

"Beautifully done my son, they will serve me well"

"If I may… Simon had destroyed one with relative ease… I fear they are not up to the standard"

"Do you remember the one that they call Doomfist?"

"Yes"

"Did we not test that all of these Omnics would be more than a match against him? If not to be better than him?"

Dyson nodded.

"On Earth there was only one who could beat Doomfist in a brawl and Simon is superior in every way. Therefore, it is to be expected that Simon would destroy one so easily"

All of the Omnics knelt to the ground at Her words, ready to fulfill their roles for their Creator.

"Soon we will have eternal peace and drift out into the stars" She said, implanting each with a unique Omnicode, their duties listed out in clear detail.

After She is finished, the last Omnic looked up at Her.

"Mother, may I know why my duties are different?"

"How dare you ask Her a question?" Dyson snarled but Mother stopped him.

"Everyone has the right to ask Me a question" She said kindly before answering.

"You have the privilege to pay back an insult dealt to us, someone whom I extended My invitation to live in the new world, but not only was it rejected, but she also destroyed the envoy that I sent"

"Is she so dangerous that required these upgrades?" the Omnic asked, noticing considerably larger files than the others, even different objectives.

In fact, the softwares that was installed were not minor upgrades, rather they are the perfect codes that maximized its reflexes and processor speeds, so much so it knows that it will act faster than time itself, perhaps even dodge bullets.

"She was one of Talon's best, I do not like to put things to chance"

"Very well Mother. I will kill Amelie Lacriox and send her ashes back to you"


End file.
